


Mistaken Tactics

by gatekat, Verilidaine



Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Air Martials, Crime Scenes, Kidnapping, M/M, Major Character Injury, Murder, Organized Crime, Pre-War, Seeker culture, Transformer Sparklings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-09 14:36:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7805662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gatekat/pseuds/gatekat, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verilidaine/pseuds/Verilidaine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Air Martial Detective Thundercracker and CSI Starscream begin to investigate a cold case, they stumble into the sights of someone with a lot to lose and no morals left.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Risks of the Job

**Author's Note:**

> [FAQ: Seekers](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1086836) is useful reading.  
>  A who's who in this one is also in the notes at the end.

Thundercracker came in for a landing over the district's central processing hub, a place he'd been stopping by more and more in the last few decaorns. He transformed and landed, then hopped on the lift down to the main level and from there headed into Evidence Collection and Processing.

Merrit looked up when he walked into the office, cycled his optics, then stood up. "I'll go get him," he said.

"Thank you," Thundercracker flicked his wings politely and relaxed as he stood and waited for his Vision to appear, or the go-ahead to visit him in the lab.

A klik later, Merrit came back alone. "He said you can come in."

Thundercracker chuckled. "Thank you for making it sound nicer than I'm sure it was."

Merrit shrugged his wings with a rueful smile. "He said he isn't stopping what he's doing just to say hello to you."

"That's more like it," Thundercracker said and headed in. He found Starscream in one of the labs, looking through a microscope. "I'm actually here with work, you know."

"You know how to drop off a sample," Starscream said.

"Yes, I do. I also know how much you want _this_ sample." Thundercracker held out an evidence bag teasingly. "It's not every case you talk about after shift."

Starscream's wings lifted with interest and he looked around at Thundercracker. "I _do_ love a mystery," he said, holding his hand out to take the evidence bag and plugging in the chip that was attached to download the physical specs. "Armor sample? Where'd you find it?"

"Buried in a mislabeled box in long-term storage," Thundercracker smiled at his Vision's pleasure. "Case is old enough it happens at times."

Starscream held it up to the light, looking it over as if he'd be able to see anything without additional equipment.

"Original label was still inside, luckily," Thundercracker said. "It was found near the scene after the frame was discovered."

"No saying the nanites won't be far too degraded by this point to do anything about it, but I'll see if there's anything left to pull," Starscream hummed. "How did you know to look for it?"

"The original inventory list had it, so I knew it was logged into the system. Only I didn't have it in any of the boxes listed for the case," he shrugged his wings. "Eventually the label pinged back from a box in storage."

"If it matches the victim, maybe it will have some clues for us. If not, it might be our killer," Starscream said, and set it next to his current work. "I'll get to this next. Strange that no one remembered an armor sample going missing. Oh, can you get some of that good polish on your way home?"

"Sure. Anything else?" Thundercracker asked with a pleased ruffle that his Vision was in such a good mood.

"Skywarp commed and said he can't get the sparklings, his unit got called somewhere outside the city. Can you get them?"

"Not on time. My shift won't end for three joors past that and there's no telling when I'd get a break long enough," Thundercracker apologized with his harmonics. "I'm sure one of our flock would be happy to if you're in the middle of something."

Starscream heaved a sigh. "No, I'll get them. They'll throw a fit if it isn't one of us."

Thundercracker chuckled. "Don't fool yourself; they throw a fit if it's not you. Especially Fyat. She's entirely too much like you when she doesn't get her way."

"Hm." Starscream's mouth turned up in a pleased smirk. "She is spirited."

Thundercracker snorted. " _Spirited._ If you say so."

"I do say so and I'll show _you_ some spirit if you like disagreeing with me," Starscream purred.

"And maybe I'll remind you of another use for your vocalizer," Thundercracker rumbled hotly as he leaned forward to brush their fields together.

" _Someone's_ in a mood," Starscream said, smirking up at his Order as they flirted with their wings.

"Not in the lab!" a sharp voice barked at them.

"We're just talking, Raegin," Thundercracker soothed Starscream's boss.

"Until you aren't," she huffed and stalked off.

Starscream shrugged his wings. "Anyway, since apparently _I_ now have to leave work early, I should try to finish this."

"All right. I'll see you in the eyrie," Thundercracker hid most of his smile and reached over to give his Vision an appreciative stroke to his wing before leaving.

* * *

Thundercracker skimmed through a datapad, reading over old interview notes. One of his duty trine landed beside him and transformed.

"Anything good in that armor sample?" Long Vector asked.

"Hasn't even been analyzed," Thundercracker said. "They'll probably get to processing it tomorrow."

"So where next?"

"I wanted to interview this witness again," Thundercracker said, flicking the screen back to look for the designation. "Nighteye. There might be some more there, maybe enough to pull him in for a memory scan. Inconsistencies," he muttered to himself.

"Then let's go. Got a current residence?" Long Vector asked.

"No, they never asked for one at the time," Thundercracker said. "The designation pulls up in a handful of registered eyries, but I wouldn't be surprised if none of them are current."

"So it's a lot of flying today."

Thundercracker nodded. "I was thinking--" He paused and tilted his head at the sudden comm chatter from the patrol channels. His optics flashed bright and spiraled wide even as he ran for the balcony. ::Martial down!::

::We're not that close,:: Long Vector commed even as he launched on Thundercracker's heels.

::Starscream is in the area picking up our creations.:: Thundercracker worked hard not to panic when his efforts to comm his Vision failed.

::I'm sure it's not him,:: Long Vector tried to calm him. ::It's probably a patrol officer.::

::He's not responding to comms,:: Thundercracker replied as he pushed his thrusters to their limit.

::Any ident?:: Long Vector asked on the patrol comms channel.

::Nothing reported, still figuring things out here,:: someone answered. ::Heard someone say it's a forensic tech. Medic's just got here.::

::Run an ID scan, then,:: Long Vector snapped.

::Are there sparklings with him?:: Thundercracker asked.

::Negative on the sparklings. ID comes up Starscream,:: the officer responded.

::My Vision. Our three hatchlings should be with him.:: Thundercracker rather marveled at the way his Martial coding took over and directed his unhelpful reactions into a file to deal with later.

::Understood. Any other possible locations on them?::

::Starscream's creator trine's eyrie,:: Thundercracker said. ::Flock order is Sharpwind. You're between their eyrie and ours.::

There was a pause of about a klik, then, ::Negative. They were picked up from that eyrie approximately one groon ago.:: Before the officer even finished his response, an alert was sent over the city's Air Martial network with the images of the three seekerlings.

A moment later, Skywarp's panicked comm came in. :: _Thundercracker?_ ::

::Star's damaged but not critical. They're missing. Presumed the attack was to get them,:: Thundercracker responded as he came in to the crime scene. ::Focus on your job. You know you'll be the first call when they're found.::

::I can help!:: Skywarp protested.

::You can help when you're done with the call you're on,:: Thundercracker ordered. ::You were called out for a reason, and there are plenty here to look.::

Skywarp grumbled but let the comm close so Thundercracker could focus on Starscream.

"How badly is he damaged?" Thundercracker asked calmly as he knelt by his Vision and the medic.

"Not badly," the medic said. "Stun blaster, probably knocked him offline the instant it hit. I hope it didn't hit any of the sparklings directly." He rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand, frowning. "Strength to knock out an adult could badly damage a seekerling."

Despite the Martial coding keeping his emotions in check, Thundercracker shuddered in distress just at the thought. "Comm me when he's conscious. What he knows could be critical."

The medic flicked his wings in understanding. "Within a breem, I expect. He's got a strong frame."

Thundercracker silently twitched his wings in understanding and thanks before lifting off to join the search. By the time the medic commed him, he was beginning to accept this initial search was almost certainly going to be useless and was already heading back. ::What happened?:: he asked his Vision.

::It's fuzzy,:: Starscream snarled. ::Fragging blaster. Someone called me, thought it might have been someone in the flock and turned around. That's all I remember.::

::Would you recognize the voice?:: Thundercracker asked as he spotted Starscream on the ground.

::I don't know. Memory isn't good. I know what they said but I don't have a replay of the voice.::

::It's a start. What was said?:: Thundercracker asked as he landed neatly besides his Vision and reached out to steady him.

Starscream pushed him off. ::My designation, that's all.::

Thundercracker let him go, though he remained close in case the support turned out to be needed. "How do you want to help?"

"However I can. Do you know anything? Has anyone seen anything?"

"No and not that they'll admit," Thundercracker huffed. "Even the ones that are probably hiding something no one thinks are hiding much. They're being worked on. Even a color or direction is a help."

"I don't have anything," Starscream said, wings slumping, pressing the heels of his hands over his optics. "They must be terrified. I have to get up there and help look."

"I don't recommend--" the medic started, then shrank back when Starscream whirled on him.

"When _your_ seekerlings are taken from you I _might_ consider your opinion worthwhile," the Vision snarled. "Until then you can keep your fragging vocalizer muted!"

To Thundercracker's relief the medic did exactly what his training taught him to do: freeze, submit and don't talk back. Even the calmest of Visions were known to become incredibly violent when their young creations were under threat, and Starscream was anything but a calm Vision on his best orns.

"Come, then. Without any helpful hints we can work northeast. It'll let us meet up with Skywarp sooner," Thundercracker suggested.

"Fine, whatever," Starscream said, and jumped into the air, transformed, and shot straight up. Thundercracker followed close behind, teeking the distress that Starscream was trying not to show, but it was becoming clear in his unsteady flight pattern.

::What if they're--::

::Don't go there.:: Thundercracker rumbled with all the authority he could manage. ::No frames; they are functioning.::

Starscream waved a little, then pushed ahead, scanning below for any sign of their creations.

* * *

Thundercracker knew they would have to stop searching eventually. With Skywarp flying a hic to his left and Starscream a hic to his right, there had still be no sign of their creations and the light was fading. They were all low on fuel, and now, the only thing to do was to return to their eyrie.

Alone.

::What are we going to do?:: Skywarp whispered.

::Recharge, refuel and work on it more in the morning,:: Thundercracker gave the only answer he knew.

They banked to head back towards their eyrie, flying there in silence. As they approached, they could see most of the flock gathered and waiting for them. It was almost double the number of Seekers there on any given night, and it included Skywarp's creation trine and all six of Starscream's creators.

Each of them was enveloped in the arms of no less than three other Seekers as soon as they landed and the fields and wings spoke of even more distress than the missing Seekerlings.

"What else happened?" Thundercracker demanded of his flock Order.

"Reve was attacked coming home," Aleno said quietly, and held his hand up to keep Thundercracker quiet. "He's fine, and he's inside," he added as his creation began to look around. "Target is with him. I didn't want him up top right now."

"How?" Thundercracker asked.

"A stun blaster," Aleno said.

"Same as me," Starscream blurted out what every Martial and military mech was thinking. "What was taken?"

"Nothing. They left something," Aleno said and handed Thundercracker a data chip. "It's keyed to only open for you."

Thundercracker growled as he took it. "So somehow they got my ident crits. I'm going to go talk to Reve, see if he remembers anything."

"Thundercracker--" Aleno caught his shoulder. He sounded worried. "His attacker told him not to report it officially, or they would kill someone in the flock."

Dark blue wings vibrated with rage and frustration. "One screwed up demand given who he's trined with and who the message is for. I'll be careful, but they already have my creations."

"I know. I still didn't report it," Aleno said.

Thundercracker flicked his wings in understanding and looked around for Starscream and Skywarp, finding them each surrounded by their creators and those closest to them, before heading towards the lift to go inside the eyrie. When it stopped he was almost immediately assaulted by Reve and Target. His carrier needed comfort and reassurance that Thundercracker wasn't angry with him and Target wanted to know for himself that the younger trine was healthy and home.

"Here, this..." Reve fumbled, still very badly shaken by the events of the orn.

"I'm so glad you aren't hurt," Thundercracker said, wrapping his arms around Reve and hugging him tightly.

"Do you know anything?" Target asked.

"Not much. Starscream and Reve were assaulted the same way. Minimal damage and taking them down was simply a means to an end. It's obviously a targeted attack on either my trine or our flock and it's cruising like a classic kidnapping at this point," Thundercracker sighed and carefully fed his ID into the chip to read it.

It was simple, no more than a few lines of text. Thundercracker read it quickly, spark sinking as his fears were confirmed.

"Well?" Target demanded.

"The demands for our sparklings are for me to cease looking into the cold case I dug up. They want all the evidence in exchange for them, and for me to wipe my insignia. In exchange ... the sparklings will be returned unharmed."

"You can get another function, but that will put you in prison," Reve keened.

"You know that you can't do that, right?" Target grew quietly serious. "You'd take down Aleno, Rico, Jericho, Starscream, Line Dancer, Recon ... every Martial, criminalist and lawyer in the extended flock with you. You can create again. You can't undo the damage betraying your insignia would do to all of us."

"I know. I won't." Thundercracker clutched his hands into a fists until metal creaked and broke and energon dripped to the floor.

"You _what?_ " Starscream's demand from the lift as he stepped out, followed closely by Skywarp, made Thundercracker turn around. Starscream stalked towards him. "They have our creations, you will do whatever is necessary to get them back!"

"I will do anything _legal_ to get them back," Thundercracker focused everything he had on his strong-willed Vision. "I will not endanger the flock or our ability to have creations in the future for these three."

"Frag you," Starscream hissed, and shook off Skywarp's hand when his Action tried to gently guide him back. "You _know_ how I feel about that! If they want you to wipe your insignia, then do it! And if you won't give them that evidence, _I_ will."

"You think you're the only Vision in this flock? Or that this is worth the careers of every Martial-related mech in the flock, including all three of us? Theft of evidence won't just destroy my future or our future, it will destroy the future of the entire flock with the Martials," Thundercracker snarled right back. "In a choice between my only creations and the flock, the flock wins. If you're serious, I'll break this trine before I allow that much harm to come to the flock."

Target put a hand between Thundercracker's wings and the young Order calmed just enough to stop the rumbling in the eyrie.

"If there is a way to save them without the flock coming to greater harm than their loss, I will do it," Thundercracker promised.

Starscream was silent for a moment, staring up at his Order, then he shook his helm. "I don't believe you," he whispered, and his wings lowered, breaking the tension between them. "You'll just follow all the rules and do everything you're told like you always do, and they'll be--" His vocalizer cracked, reset. "We'll never see them again."

"The odds already say that's true," Thundercracker spoke a painful truth. "They're old enough to identify their kidnappers. Tonight the Martials and military of the flock will meet to discus options now that we know what the kidnappers want."

"I will be there," Starscream said, wings lifting in warning.

"I consider you every bit as much a Martial as myself," Thundercracker soothed. "I always have."

Starscream backed down a little. "Fine. Good."

Thundercracker regarded his Vision for a few moments, then reached out and put his hands on his shoulders. Starscream hissed at him and tried to twist away but Thundercracker held him, the air rumbling in warning. The low sound didn't stop until Starscream turned his helm up to meet his Order's hard gaze.

"I swear to you, Starscream, I will do _everything_ that is legally within my power to find our sparklings," Thundercracker said.

Starscream's wings twitched, then sagged. Skywarp came in on the other side of him, wrapping arms around his waist and holding him. Thundercracker joined from the other side. Within a couple kliks the entire flock had joined the embrace.

* * *

The gathering of well over half the extended flock tied to Thundercracker was unusually solemn for the flock. It was also unusually quiet as the hardlines were exchanged and the partitions set up so there was a shared space for this most volatile of conversations. It had been agreed that given the circumstances, and the evidence they had that those threatening their flock had more information on them than they would have suspected, extra steps should be taken to ensure that they were not overheard.

~I have been looking into a cold case murder,~ Thundercracker began. Starscream was on his right, Skywarp sat beyond him, a symbolic protection of their Vision. ~The message I received from the kidnappers demanded that I turn over all the evidence relating to that case, and wipe my insignia. Only then would we see the seekerlings again.~

Displeased rumbles began to build.

~Thundercracker is aware of the consequences that this flock would face if he gave into those demands,~ Aleno said, speaking as the flock Order.

~Which I will not. I am looking for ideas for any legal means to save them beyond the general search going on,~ Thundercracker suggested. ~Obviously anything official is a bad idea.~

~If we can find out who, or where they are, I've got enough favors to call in Alpha Flight,~ Target offered.

~Ditto for my SWAT team, or any of them really. They'll be there in a flash. Literally,~ Skywarp piped up. ~Might not be special ops or nothing, but we do urban assault-rescue as our energon.~

~Breaking and entering without a warrant is not legal,~ Thundercracker said. ~Even if we are able to find where they are.~

~It is if they can be seen through a window, or their voices identified, if they are able to vocalize,~ Line Dancer said. ~I'm sure that Fyat at the very least is trying her best to shatter some windows with her screeching. What is the current extent of the search?~

~Every Air Martial in my district currently on duty is actively searching,~ Thundercracker said. ~But given that they don't have warrants, they can't conduct a very thorough search. Every Air Martial in the city has their picture.~

~You _could_ wipe your insignia,~ Starscream said. ~It would at least be a start. You could find another function.~

~And the evidence?~ Thundercracker rumbled. ~One does no good without the other, and I am not handing that over to them. Wiping my insignia is pointless.~

~He isn't giving into those demands,~ Rico said. ~Air Martials _don't_ negotiate with criminals.~

~Apparently not even when lives are at stake,~ Starscream snarled at him.

~Not even then,~ Aleno said firmly. ~To negotiate once is to give in every time. As much as it hurts, it is better than to be under the thrusters of the criminal element.~

~On the up side, we can argue pretty successfully that they deserve excurma, or execution at the very least,~ Jericho pointed out.

~Only if we actually catch them,~ Starscream said. ~Which we will _not_ if--~

~Which we _will_ by following the same methods by which we catch all criminals,~ Thundercracker said. ~By following the evidence. It's _there._ If I didn't have something, they wouldn't have turned to such a radical method. I just need to figure out what it is.~

~And in the meantime the sparklings will be killed!~ Starscream keened.

~Then we will have them for more crimes. It is how we do things,~ Thundercracker responded, knowing he wasn't likely to get through to his emotional Vision but trying anyway.

~Well if _you_ aren't going to do what needs to be done--~ Starscream reached for the hardline connecting him to the flock, only for Skywarp to lunge and grab both his hands, preventing him from pulling away. Starscream struggled, but wasn't as strong as his Action. "Get off me!"

Skywarp's wings tilted back nervously but he didn't let go.

~Thundercracker,~ Aleno snapped.

~Starscream,~ Thundercracker rumbled as he grabbed his Vision and forced their optics to meet. ~As long as you are part of this flock and trine, you _will obey the law_.~

Starscream glared back. ~If I don't?~ he challenged.

Skywarp shot an alarmed looked at their Order and the pained expression and the wings lowered in regret didn't help.

~Then you will no longer be part of this trine or flock,~ Thundercracker's voice was steady despite how much he didn't want to follow through. ~We are Martials. We are military. We are not criminals.~

Starscream hesitated and murmurs ran through the flock.

~Star...~ Skywarp whispered. ~ _Please._ We'll figure it out.~

Starscream glanced at him, then looked back to Thundercracker. ~You wouldn't,~ he said.

~I'd have to. The flock comes first. It _must_ come first. If I didn't break our trine after you did something that serious it would fall on us all. Just as if I had committed the crime. You would lose your job and standing in the Martials in addition to any other penalties, and so would all of us. _All_ of us, Starscream. Every Martial in the flock would be forced to wipe their wings and we would not be trusted for at least two generations,~ Thundercracker attempted to get through to his Vision just how serious it was.

~They are _alone_ and afraid and maybe even in pain,~ Starscream pleaded. ~They're waiting for us to find them.~

~And if you force me to break this trine, they will never be found,~ Thundercracker said. ~We work together on this. Do not doubt that I will follow through on my threats. No matter how much I would not want to.~

There was a beat of silence, the flocks' wings held, frozen and tense, waiting for something to snap. Then, finally, ~If we don't find them,~ Starscream growled, ~I'll break it myself.~

Thundercracker simply lowered his wings in acceptance of the threat as a real one and Starscream jerked away from Skywarp's loosened grip, yanking out the cable connecting him to the rest out and stalking away. Skywarp looked between Order and Vision.

~Go,~ Thundercracker murmured, and Skywarp unplugged and ran after Starscream. Thundercracker watched them go, then turned back to his flock. ~I have to find them.~

~We'll help,~ Line Dancer said. ~Whatever we can do.~

~I'll talk to your district Order with you tomorrow,~ Rico said. ~He needs to know what's happening. There might be something more he can do.~

~Thank you,~ Thundercracker spoke honestly. ~I need to see to my Vision unless you need me here.~

~No,~ Aleno said. ~We will continue to talk this through. There may be those who wish to speak without the creator trine listening.~

~I understand,~ Thundercracker said, canted his wings in gratitude, and unplugged to follow after his trinemates. He made his way inside the eyrie and down towards one of the lounge chambers, where he suspected Starscream had escaped to.

Not ten steps away, Skywarp appeared in front of him, arms and wings outstretched, blocking his way. He looked uncertain, but he didn't move when Thundercracker frowned at him.

"He's really scared right now, TC," his Action said.

Thundercracker sighed and relaxed his wings. "I'll be as gentle as I can. But I can't allow him to go rogue."

Skywarp frowned at him and crossed his arms.

"You know I can see through your stance," Thundercracker managed a fond smile and reached out to stroke his Action's wing. "Star needs us right now."

Skywarp huffed. "Yeah, he does. But not as an Order or a Martial or whatever, just as his trine. Okay? He knows what you're going to say and he's angry and scared but mostly scared and I'm just asking you to leave it until tomorrow." His wings lowered and his expression softened. "We're all scared. Just trine tonight."

"Just trine tonight," Thundercracker agreed softly.

"Good," Skywarp said, and vanished, leaving Thundercracker to walk the rest of the way on his own. When he entered the room Skywarp was already curled protectively around Starscream, but at Thundercracker's approach the Vision stirred and hissed.

"We're just a scared trine tonight," Thundercracker said very softly as he knelt and reached to stroke Starscream's wing. "We'll know more tomorrow."

Starscream watched him warily for a few moments, then relaxed back down and tucked his helm against Skywarp. Thundercracker joined them on the wide lounge, trying to shield both Action and Vision with his wings.

* * *

It was early, though Thundercracker had been on shift for a couple joors already when the Martial's district Order finally came in and answered his request for a meeting. When he walked into the office the wide view of floor to high ceiling windows made him uneasy. There was no way to know who was watching or listening. Rico and Aleno were already there. Not an unreasonable thing given what was going to appear to happen.

Thundercracker canted his wings to them as he sat to their right, facing his district Order.

"Is it safe to speak here?" Rico asked in 'cant.

"If it isn't, I have bigger problems than your sparklings," Ether said. He looked to Thundercracker. "I am deeply sorry for what has happened. Do you need some time off to spend with your trine?"

"Yes," Thundercracker said quietly, his insides in a knot at what he was about to say. "I received their demands last night. Wipe my wings, turn over all evidence in the cold case I was studying and stop looking into it."

"The flock discussed this last night, without the creator trine present," Aleno said. "There are those who think any appearance of giving into their demands will be detrimental to every Air Martial, but in the end, we think the risk is worth it."

"The risk of giving into their demands?" Ether asked.

"Only pretending to," Rico said. "In order to fool those who have attacked our flock, in order to find them."

Ether steepled his fingers together and frowned, and was silent for a long time. "Your cold case, it's a frame that was found crashed?" he finally asked.

Thundercracker canted his wings in affirmative. "Initially ruled as a flight accident, until one of the flock found evidence of corrosives. The flock member was a flunked out med student, so it took some pushing to get the frame examined, but authorities found the same thing. There was a short investigation, but--"

"No evidence, yes," Ether said. "I remember. Where was the frame found, again?"

"Seventeenth district," Thundercracker said.

"Not a good area."

Thundercracker shook his helm.

"I'm not sure it would be wise to even pretend to give into demands like that," Ether said. "It could start an unwelcome trend. The sad part is you may not have gotten anywhere in your investigation."

"Quite possibly. I certainly don't have any leads. I picked it up as something Starscream would enjoy. A case where the only evidence was forensic. If they'd waited, it may well have gone away on its own," Thundercracker's wings shivered with stress. "Flip side is that Starscream is a couple orders of magnitude better than anyone else in the lab, or has been in the lab in a long time. If there was anything to find, a connection to make, he'd have found it and made it."

"It also rules out a simple hit or gang violence in my experience," Rico brought up. "This took access, organization and a lot of risk. Gangs don't normally view a murder rap as that serious. Certainly not serious enough to abduct three young seekerlings. The penalties for that are so much higher than a single murder."

"Some of the established crime flocks, however," Ether murmured. "I'll need to talk to some of the other districts. I'm not comfortable with handing over fake evidence to appear to give into demands. Not yet. Thundercracker, would you be able to compile everything you had collected so far for my review?"

Thundercracker went pale but before he could speak Rico moved in front of him and stalled the building outburst. "There's a better way. We _can_ trick them. Thundercracker's Vision has the expertise to identify just about anything and tell us how it was created. Reve and Skydart can recreate almost anything. We don't even need to bring anyone in outside our flock. And if Thundercracker walks out of here with with his insignia, anyone watching will know that we've done exactly what he was told not to."

"We aren't asking for long, either," Aleno added. "The ransom said if we do what is demanded, we'll get them back. That's a fairly fast turnaround. An orn or two at most."

"If they don't return them within an orn of turning over the evidence, I'm willing to assume that they have no intention of it," Thundercracker trembled slightly before collecting himself. "I won't tell my trine, but I don't believe they're still functioning. The risk of being identified is too high."

"Then what, in your opinion, do they stand to gain?" Ether asked. "If they know they cannot fulfill their part of the demand, what do they think will happen after that is realized?"

"If I resign in the prime of my career, they probably think I won't be able to go back. They're warning me off this, even if I do. They've shown that they are connected and resourceful. Two Visions in our flock were attacked and could have easily been killed. They took the seekerlings of the Vision who doesn't want to create again, leaving him bereft possibly for life, and severely impacting his ability to work and function. Not to mention..." Thundercracker's voice wavered. "Not to mention the strain such a loss and a possible refusal to create again would place on his trine. They picked the right Martial for this tactic."

Ether sighed. "So you're asking me to cover up and endorse a false resigning. I think I can do that, given the circumstances and the potential consequences. I will need to submit something officially, but I can do that quietly, only directly to the central office."

Thundercracker glanced at his sire, then nodded. "Yes, and agreed."

"Which I suppose means you won't be walking out of here with your insignia," Ether said. "Are you prepared for that?"

"As well as I can be," Thundercracker's wings trembled faintly. "I still don't know how to answer why when I'm asked."

"Personal reasons," Ether said. "That's all you need to say. Everyone knows your seekerlings were taken from you, it won't be too surprising."

Thundercracker canted his wings in thanks as he relaxed a bit. "Then being very stressed and quiet is acceptable."

"Expected, I imagine," Ether said. "I'll file the reports later. Right now, I'll accept your resignation."

"Thank you, for your assistance," Thundercracker dipped his wings.

Ether sighed and leaned sideways, opening up one of the storage compartments in his desk, at the very bottom, and pulled out a small bottle and a cloth. "I must dissolve your insignia now," he said.

All three related Martials shivered slightly in mutual distress but Thundercracker presented his wings when Ether came around his desk and held still while the nanites and dye were dissolved and wiped from his wings, front and back. Each of the four places that had once pronounced his status to the universe were left bare metal one by one and each was a loss he felt even more keenly than that of his creations.

Aleno and Rico stood on either side in silent support through the entire thing.

"You are hereby released from duty," Ether said.

"We will fix this," Aleno said. "One way or another."

Thundercracker leaned into the support, too shaken to do more than nod faintly.


	2. Race to the Finish

Line Dancer came online spitting mad and thrashing against those trying to hold her down. Her senses were still largely offline and coming back only grudgingly, but she knew enough to know she was surrounded and being restrained.

"Calm, _calm,_ " she finally heard, and while she agreed to still, it did nothing to stop the snarling of her engines. If these were the same mecha who had already taken down two of her flock, she was not going to go down quietly.

The bark of her rank and designation finally quieted her. That voice she knew. That voice was safety and security and command. If Aleno was here, then she was being held by kin or medics.

Her vocalizer took a couple tries to activate and was still full of static when it finally obeyed her. "Didn't see anything. Didn't teek. Was flying then ... here."

Her creator-Order's wings were vibrating with rage when she got her optics online, and she well understood why. She was the third Vision in their flock to be attacked, and she was surprised Aleno was with her instead of looking for and trying to slaughter the ones responsible.

"You don't remember anything?" the Order ground out.

"I think a stun beam or blast hit me. I didn't detect it coming in time." Line Dancer focused on her memory files and their readings before they became too corrupted to get anything from. "Someone caught me. I was high and fast enough a crash would have done damage. Did they leave anything?"

"Another datachip," Aleno said. "I haven't looked at it yet. I'm sure it's keyed to Thundercracker and I'd like all the Martials of the flock to get there. Can she fly?" he barked at the medics. "I want her back in the eyrie."

"If she's got someone close to catch her if she falters," the medic wasn't happy but allowed Line Dancer to sit, then stand up.

"I'll be on her wing," Aleno said, and held his creation's arm.

"Please report for a check-up tomorrow," the medic said.

"She will," Line Dancer's lead partner, Sheana, said. Line Dancer huffed but canted her wings in agreement when their third rumbled at her.

* * *

"What happened?" Thundercracker demanded the moment Line Dancer touched down. Her clutch-mate's wings were vibrating, the empty spots where his insignia had once been still not re-dyed.

"The half-breed bastards stunned me mid-air to deliver this message," she snarled as Aleno offered Thundercracker the chip.

" _Frag,_ " Thundercracker snarled. "I swear if they go after one more Vision..."

"What's on it?" Alenon demanded.

"Directions for where to leave the evidence," Thundercracker grumbled.

"If they strike another it's likely Kyrie," Line Dancer snickered darkly. "They are getting bolder each time."

"That'd be the end of them," Thundercracker snorted. "I almost hope they're crazy enough to hit a military sniper. Her work flock operates on entirely different rules."

"They would regret that," Aleno agreed as Target came up from inside the eyrie and stormed over, looking even angrier than Aleno had.

"Did they hurt you?" he demanded of his Vision creation.

"No more than the others," Line Dancer huffed. "Hurt my pride more than anything. A full field agent shouldn't be broadsided that easily, even off duty."

"Happens to the best of us," Target said. "Where does it say, Thundercracker?"

"Where the frame in the cold case was discovered," Thundercracker said quietly. "All of the evidence. If I do this..." His wings dropped and his voice shook.

"There is no going back," Rico said as he came close. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. We need them back," Thundercracker closed his optic covers.

Rico clasped his arms. "Strength, now, Thundercracker," he said. "Your flock is with you." Between their wrists, a hardline was connected. ~You are a convincing actor.~

~Thank you. It helps that I really am very stressed and distressed,~ Thundercracker took strength from the approval and the compliment. "Skywarp will get what Starscream doesn't have. It won't be long before I can make the drop."

"I'll come with you," Rico said. "Target too."

Thundercracker nodded and glanced to his Order-sire as the final arbiter of flock actions. "Tell them tonight, or should someone go so we can make the drop tonight?"

"Skywarp will go tonight," Aleno decided. "Tell Starscream to have everything ready for him. You know what it will mean for us if he is caught taking this."

"I know," Thundercracker said quietly.

"Then go, and be quick about it," Aleno said.

~Is Starscream prepared?~ Rico asked. ~Did he have enough time?~

~Everything's ready,~ Thundercracker promised before the line disconnected and he hurried to alert his trine that the plan was on the move. By the time Thundercracker delivered the evidence box, the only official and genuine item being delivered, Skywarp and Shafaf would be in position to track whoever had it until it arrived somewhere that clearly identified what crime flock had the seekerlings. If they lost track the passive transmitter would likely put them back on the trail.

Now to wait.

* * *

Skywarp watched as his Order landed and walked a few paces to place the evidence box where he'd been instructed to, right on the spot where the frame they were supposedly delivering the remains of had been discovered. His engines still liked to snarl when he thought about how they'd gotten here, but he kept the sound low.

"Hush, young one," Shafaf murmured. "Don't get too excited."

Skywarp huffed and tried to relax. Target's older sister was far more experienced in this than he was and trained for this kind of mission. "They hurt Starscream," he said.

The older Action canted her wings in agreement. "I know. You'll know where they are soon."

"Not soon enough," Skywarp muttered but went quiet again as Thundercracker left and the waiting began.

A joor later and he saw Recon take off from a perch with a good view for one with a better view. It was all part of the mission. No one who'd set this kind of thing up would believe there wouldn't be a watch put on the drop, or so Rico and Aleno said. So they set one of the flock with good skills in tracking to be the one led astray or lost. All so the pair that could follow without being seen wouldn't be looked for as carefully.

A couple joors later and a tiny flash of light drew Skywarp's gaze to a movement and mistake he knew Kyrie would never make in reality. She'd been trained to be completely still for orns at a time without a twitch of frame or equipment. As good as the snipers were that he worked with, he knew the military trained for entirely different skills. Military snipers were assassins. SWAT snipers were for long range protection. Beyond the aim at range, completely different jobs.

Shafaf saw it too, her gaze going up. "Good," she murmured. "They'll see two, and hopefully never even think to look for us. They'll probably be here soon. Are you ready?"

"Ready," Skywarp promised and watched as she vanished from his sensors. A moment later she was in the air and impossible to find and Skywarp focused on the box in the ally and the ill-kept trine of street thugs that picked it up. Recon was in the air and after them. While he did a good job of looking like he was trying to avoid being noticed, it was the exact opposite. He was the distraction so no one would look for Skywarp's flash or Shafaf's silence.

Now the hunt was on and it was the toughest thing Skywarp had ever done not to assault the Seekers in front of him.

The first stop they made was into a small shop, slipping in. Skywarp knew Shafaf would go down to watch through the windows and waited for her signaling ping to him. The evidence box was swapped out and taken out the back, while another left through the front.

Shafef pinged Skywarp as she took off after the group out the back while Recon caught up and followed the one out the front. They had warrants, so that was grounds to stop them when it was time.

The game of chase continued through the city, with the evidence box being traded off several more times. Kyrie made sure she was obviously following, until one particularly deft handoff when she finally signaled that she would follow the decoy. Skywarp and Shafef pinged back their understanding the fliers they were following would hopefully believe their tail was gone and go to their final destination.

The next swap, though, left both Skywarp and Shafef uncertain as to which Seeker had the true evidence. A final failsafe to shake any lingering shadows.

::Split up,:: Shafef decided quickly, and banked left.

Skywarp pinged his understanding and teleported to keep up with the other. Even then he was working hard not to be spotted.

The hard work all paid off when finally the flier he was following disappeared into the lower level of an eyrie in the heart of the 34th district. He came to rest nearby and waited for a moment, then commed Shafef. ::I think my trail has ended.::

::So has mine, but I don't think I have it,:: Shafef said. ::We're coming to you.::

::I'll sit on him. There's a lot of hidden bolt-holes in this eyrie,:: he warned her as he grew excited by the prospect of action. ::I can check them, but I can't know what's in there until after I jump.::

::Wait for backup,:: Thundercracker said. ::We will be there soon.::

Skywarp twitched his wings and pinged his understanding.

The tiniest movement of air next to him was all that alerted Skywarp to Shafef landing next to him a breem later. Her invisibility cloak faded before she spoke. "I did a silent walk-through, didn't hear anything. We've pulled in enough favors to have a full squad on every location this flock is known to own or frequent. Got the Winglord's Action's tacit approval, though it if goes bad it might not protect anyone outside the military."

Skywarp canted his wings in understanding. "Anyone would understand why we're going in," he said. He leaned forward. "How long are we waiting?"

"Until every team is set up. We don't want to risk the seekerlings being damaged or moved by one location tipping another off," she soothed him.

Skywarp x-vented and tried to settle. His Vision needed him to succeed.

* * *

Thundercracker shivered and forced himself to hold back with the help of Rico's hand on his shoulder as the military unit, nine duty trines in all, descended on the warehouse that the organized crime division of the Air Martials indicated was a primary holding location for all kinds of contraband. It was as heavily guarded as they'd been warned, but crime flocks were used to Air Martials and other criminals. They almost never crossed trails with elite military units whose training was focused on deactivate first, and capture only if safe and convenient.

There were shouts and threats, along with multiple commands from the Martials for those inside to stand down. Their warrant was for a search, no arrests, and if they were lucky, those inside would let them just search.

That didn't seem to be how it was going to play out, however.

::Thundercracker,:: the lead Order commed. ::Do a flyover, shake everyone up.::

::You'll be caught in it too,:: Thundercracker said.

::We know how to recover quickly. I'm worried if it isn't this it's going to be a slaughter.::

"Not a bad thing," Thundercracker muttered even as he lifted off and revved his engines, frame and spark to generate the subsonic vibrations that sent everything in range into a blind panic for cover.

::They're here!:: someone military barked over the comm just after Thundercracker's flyover.

The warehouse went deathly still for a moment before Thundercracker heard her. The high, shrill cry of a terrified seekerling desperate to call her creators down to protect her.

He smiled to himself. She'd heard her sire and was screaming for her creators with all her might. ::Skywarp, I can hear Fyat. I don't know what they will find. Be prepared to hold Starscream.::

::Going now,:: Skywarp responded and somehow managed to hold back his demands for more information so Thundercracker could focus on getting the little ones back.

::What's happening in there?:: Thundercracker demanded after a long silence broken by nothing but Fyat's screeching.

::We have the situation under control now. You may come in and quiet your creation before she damages herself further,:: the Order responded.

Thundercracker banked and dove down to the roof of the eyrie, transformed, and ran for the entrance. ::All three?:: he demanded.

::We're working on the mechs. The femme is in better shape but really needs to conserve her energy,:: another military mech with the signal marker of a medic replied.

When Thundercracker landed he was met at the entrance by a young officer holding a very agitated and still shrieking Fyat. His expression was a mixture of grateful to hand the bundle of upset seekerling over and apologetic that he couldn't calm her.

She continued to thrash and screech for a few moments, but then Thundercracker flared his field and rumbled his engines. Fyat quieted and stilled, then cried out and pressed against his plating, shivering.

"The others?" Thundercracker demanded, wrapping his hands protectively around his creation while he walked inside.

"Injured," the officer said, his wings ducking down, clearly aware that Thundercracker wouldn't be satisfied with that answer.

Thundercracker didn't bother to ask. He followed the constant ping the medics gave off so the walking injured could find them.

He eventually found the one working with his creations and stood several paces back. He could see Firedance's sparklight, a bright purple. Echo wasn't looking much better, but his frame seemed to be more intact. Fyat chirped, quivered and pressed against him.

::TC?:: Skywarp asked.

::I have Fyat,:: Thundercracker said, watching the rapid movements of the medic's hands.

::Only Fyat?:: Skywarp asked hesitantly.

::The others are being cared for.:: Thundercracker answered carefully. ::They're still holding on.::

::Still?:: Skywarp's voice was small.

::I don't know what's going to happen,:: Thundercracker said. The purple light dimmed, flickered. ::Just ... keep Starscream where he is.:: The light disappeared. Thundercracker's grip on Fyat tightened. ::I'll give you an update as soon as I know more.::

"I'm so sorry," the medic said, and turned his attention to Echo.

Thundercracker could only hold Fyat, tremble as he watched and tell himself he couldn't already hear the keening of his trine. He couldn't hear it from this far away, even though he was sure he could.

"This one is stable enough to survive transportation to the hospital," the medic said. He pinged Thundercracker the location and the patient ID. "We'll know more after surgery."

"Thundercracker." Rico's hand was on his shoulder. "Martials will clean up here. Let's go home."

The young Order nodded numbly but reached for his deactivated creation.

"Let the medics," Rico said quietly, and reached over to turn Thundercracker's face towards him. "Not in front of Fyat," he said in 'cant.

Fyat recognized her designation as she watched Rico, and looked back up at her sire with a pleading series of chips as she pointed at her brothers.

Despite the trembling of his wings, Thundercracker managed to steady his voice. "The medics need to take care of them."

Before he lost his will, Thundercracker turned with his elder to fly home.

When he arrived at his eyrie there were only two Seekers waiting for him on the roof. Skywarp and Starscream were huddled together, watching the sky for Thundercracker's return. Rico banked away to use a lower entrance and join the rest of the flock while Thundercracker flew over top and landed with his wings to his trinemates.

He opened his cockpit for Fyat to climb out and pressed a kiss to her helm.

"What happened?" Starscream demanded, voice shaking.

Thundercracker x-vented to settle himself. "Fyat is safe," he said, turning around, and Starscream scrambled forward to take his creation into his arms. "Echo is in the hospital."

"But--" Skywarp said, and Starscream's helm shot up. Action and Vision stared pleadingly at their Order.

"We'll hold the funeral for Firedance when the investigation is complete enough for it," Thundercracker trembled as he watched. Deep inside he had little hope for Echo. That Fyat was as unharmed as she was spoke of either incredible luck of her part, or her brothers sacrificing themselves to protect her. Honestly, he rather doubted that. She wasn't the type that let anyone get in front of her and she never backed down. So much like her carrier. What she was was smart enough to get in the best place to survive and stay there.

"No," Starscream whispered, and Skywarp began flickering in and out of sight. Starscream sank down and wrapped his hand around Fyat as she clung to his collar. Thundercracker knelt and curled around him, then grabbed Skywarp to pull him close. They all flickered with the distressed Action.

"The hospital. We should be there. For Echo," Skywarp shuddered.

Starscream made a low, empty sound.

Fyat clicked her brothers' names up at her creators.

"We will go see Echo," Thundercracker said. "Skywarp, can you take us?"

"Of course," he answered and for once there was no scoffing at a question of his abilities. "What part?"

"Front entrance. I don't know his room yet," Thundercracker answered and just as quickly they were there, huddled against the huge building's side in a spot shielded from most passing by.

Skywarp wavered a little with his first step and Thundercracker immediately pressed energon into his hands. "I will find out where he is," he promised his trinemates. Skywarp nodded and focused on protecting the most vulnerable members of his trine. In kliks Thundercracker was back with a room number and coordinate directions to it. The next warp was quicker with the shorter distance and still took took long.

"He isn't here!" Starscream keened. "Surgery," Thundercracker said. "They're still working on him. It's good that they're still working."

Fyat looked between her creators and trilled, putting a hand on Starscream's jaw.

"We're going to wait for Echo, okay?" Starscream whispered.

"That's why I wanted to come here," Thundercracker agreed. "We'll be the first thing he teeks as he rouses."

* * *

A medic came in a few joors later, wings canted gravely.

Starscream was the first on his pedes, rushing forward with Fyat still clutched tightly to his canopy. "Where is he? What happened?"

"Before we bring Echo in, I want you to be prepared for what you are going to see," the medic said. "He is not in a good place, but he has a chance. If he survives, he will need intense physical therapy and reaprative surgeries, but that is something to worry about more later."

"How good a chance of surviving?" Thundercracker asked, somehow keeping it from being a demand, if only barely.

The medic paused, regarded the disgraced Air Martial that didn't act disgraced at all and decided how much to tell. "He has about a thirty percent chance of surviving the night. If he survives three orns, his chances improve to around eighty. That he'll ever walk right, ten. His left arm is not repairable with current technology, but he can get a good prosthetic system given his age. The only good news is that both his wing nubs and the systems attached to them seem to be in good shape."

"Why can't you fix his arm?" Starscream demanded. "Arms are repaired _all the time._ Seekers can have every bit of their armor replaced, we can do that now!"

"Not when such a young sparkling has a traumatic injury," the medic said. "The protoform is too vulnerable. When adults suffer a similar injury, the percentage of protoform lost is not nearly as high. He lost nearly a quarter of his."

"He'll fly though," Thundercracker focused on the one thing that could force him to deactivate his creation. Even if society called it the right thing to do, an honorable suicide, it would still be on Thundercracker to carry a flightless creation high enough to ensure deactivation from the fall.

"Yes, he should fly when he's old enough," the medic reassured him, fully aware of the reason for that focus.

"Then we'll deal with the rest," Thundercracker stepped forward and put a hand on Starscream's wing to comfort him. "So long as he lives and can fly, we'll see he has a good existence."

Starscream nodded numbly and Skywarp flickered.

"I'll have them bring him in now," the medic said, and walked out.

A klik later, an incubator was pushed in, the glass lid giving the creators a painful first look at their recharging creation. He looked so small with all the medical attachments and patches, and Starscream simply couldn't make himself process the missing limb and how invisible the legs were due to wraps. Despite it all, they could all understand the monitor readouts as well as any medic and those were good.

"He's strong. If he makes it, he'll be taken care of and we'll find a function for him," Thundercracker promised.

"Take Fyat," Starscream said, and about shoved the sparkling into Skywarp's arms before escaping the room.

Thundercracker sighed. "I'll go," he said, and brushed his forehelm to Skywarp's. "Stay with them, protect them."

"I will," Skywarp promised, and Thundercracker headed after his Vision.

He caught up to Starscream in the hallway and reached out to grab his shoulder, but Starscream whirled on him first.

" _What happened?_ " the Vision snarled.

"I don't know. I wasn't inside until it was over," Thundercracker whispered. "It looks like explosives damage."

"And?" Starscream demanded. "Where are they? What's going to be done to them? Firedance never did anything to them!"

"Those that survived are in custody. If this goes down the way I expect, some of the low ranks will turn on their leaders for a deal. Most will see jail time, some will extinguish in prison, we'll probably manage to get someone excurma and executed for Firedancer," Thundercracker tried to reassure.

Starscreams hands clenched into fists, then relaxed, then clenched again. Thundercracker carefully tried to take one in his own hand but Starscream snatched it away.

"I need to see Firedancer."

"I think we should stay with--"

" _I need to see him!_ "

"You can't," Thundercracker reached out to hold his Vision. "You know what happens to crime victims."

Starscream kept pulling away, fighting Thundercracker's hold, but he was never able to break the grip. "Which means I know where they're going to take him so we can go, we can get there--"

"Starscream. You know they won't let us."

"You could talk to someone, pull some strings--"

" _Starscream._ "

Starscream jerked back, then stilled. "I need to see him."

"When they let us," Thundercracker said gently.

Starscream stared up at his Order, silently pleading for any miracle, then he shuddered and crumpled, and wailed. Thundercracker sank to the ground with him and held him while hospital life moved on around them.


	3. Waging War

Once again Thundercracker was grateful for Skywarp's ability to travel without flying. It took them from the hospital room where Echo was resting to the flock's eyrie in a single jump.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get completely used to that," Reve said, a hand over his spark after he realized who had just appeared next to him. A moment later his arms were around Starscream as the rest of the gathered flock roused. "How is Echo?"

"Better," Starscream murmured, his hands still tight around Fyat despite her squirming. "He should survive and fly in time."

The wings around them all shuddered in relief and Chiindii moved forward to take Fyat. Starscream relinquished her to his own carrier as the flock moved in around them, trilling their comfort for the bereft trine. All three accepted the comfort and offered a version of it in return. They were still trine. They were not broken. There was hope despite the pain and loss.

No one paid attention to time as they drew on the support, but eventually someone asked, "Just how badly damaged is he?"

"He'll fly," Thundercracker murmured. "It will be a long flight to recovery."

"His arm was damaged," Starscream said. "He'll need a prosthetic. Both legs are repairable, eventually."

"When can he come home?" Chiindii asked, and for once, Fyat wasn't squirming to get away from him. She stayed curled by the Vision's collar, watching the flock with bright optics.

"We're not sure," Skywarp said quietly.

"Decaorns," Thundercracker offered. "Then back for more repairs and checks until he's and adult at least. He'll need a specialist for upgrades."

"Then nothing that attention, care and effort cannot provide," Aleno relaxed with a quiver of relief. "Has he spoken yet?"

"Yes," Starscream's relief was palpable in his field. "He recognized us, knew who he was, where he lived and enough of what happened to be sure there was no serious processor damage."

Fyat chirped Firedance's designation up at Chiindii.

"Fyat, darling, no," Starscream said, and quickly reached to take her back. She dodged his hand and hissed at her carrier, taking a swipe at him. He froze, then sighed and lowered his hand. "Firedance isn't coming back."

She wailed, confused and angry all at once.

"Chiindii, please take her inside," Aleno said.

The gentle, artistic Vision nodded and walked to the lift slowly. Fyat cried the entire way, but wasn't able to get away from the experienced Vision.

"Longjump," Aleno said.

Starscream's creator-Action nodded and kissed Starscream's helm before following his Vision.

"Anyone who does not want to stay for this conversion should now feel free to leave," Aleno announced.

There was a pause, then a fraction of the flock all started to move. They filed past the grieving trine in the center of it all, expressing their condolences on the way by.

When those who wanted to had left, Airstrike rose. "We know who did this. It's time to strike any outside of a jail cell," he rumbled.

"To have the entire flock come under fire?" Aleno countered. "We didn't do this when they were taken because of the risks that every Martial faced if it was known we condoned similar actions."

Airstrike opened his mouth, but a flash of Target's wings stopped him.

"There was not a military member that was attacked. If Kyrie had been assaulted we would have more standing, but we must respect what half of this flock risks if such actions are authorized by a ranking Martial," Target said carefully. "Remember the lectures we had when we came? How their laws are different from ours, more strict, and we have to honor the Martial's ways while a Martial is our flock Order."

Airstrike huffed a sound of frustration, but dipped his wings low in both apology and remembering.

"It doesn't sit well with anyone that even one of them might get away with it. Those of us who wear the Martial brand will do what we do and hunt criminals for arrest and prison," Thundercracker spoke up. "It may not not be as much as we want, but they are a flock of criminals. The raids provided an enormous amount of evidence of all kinds of crime. They'll be at the top of many a Martial's radar for a long time to come."

"Unless we can prove who it was or get a confession, though, Firedance's deactivation could be argued as accidental," Rico said.

Kyrie snorted. "That's ridiculous," she said. "A seekerling is dead, he was in their care, that's all that matters."

"Don't think for a moment they aren't going to find the best defense available," Rico said. "There is wealth in that flock."

"Ill gained wealth."

"We can't prove that," Aleno said wearily.

"That first case," Starscream spoke suddenly, lifting his helm. The flock stilled. "The one that started it, just a murder, no reason to think it was anything more than that. There's something about _that._ "

"He has a point," Thundercracker looked at his Vision seriously. "How many crime-flock murders have been investigated, tried, convicted ... without even a threat to the Martials doing it? That murder must be the key to something very large, very important to them right now to risk what they did. We find that, we find their weakness and we exploit it legally."

"We might not have even figured it out," Starscream said. "If they had just done _nothing_ \--" His wings shook. "They had to have known that. The evidence was a joke. And they still went right to one of the most extreme responses they could have taken."

"That's the key, then," Rico said.

"What if they _can't_ figure it out?" Airstrike demanded. "They still get away with it!"

A spitting, outraged hiss and rattling wings drew all attention to Starscream even as both his trinemates focused on calming him down.

"Never tell Star he can't do something. We'll figure it out," Thundercracker spoke for his sputtering Vision.

"Something has to point to them," Skywarp spoke up, though his wings were uncertain. "Otherwise why do it?"

"Exactly," Thundercracker said. "I already found enough, but now I'm going to find more."

"The flock needs to agree," Aleno said. "These fliers have already shown a willingness for violence. If you continue with this, no Vision of this flock goes unaccompanied, _anywhere._ There must be an Action or Order with combat training with each of you, no matter what. If any trine does not have a _combat trained and experienced_ Action or Order, one of us must stay with them."

"That isn't--" Line Dancer started to protest, until her sire lifted his wings in warning.

"No one," Aleno said. "I will not accept any compromise."

"And by duties?" Kyrie asked.

"Don't you always have a spotter?" Target looked at her.

She paused, then nodded. "Almost always. He's an Order."

Aleno dipped his wings. "I will understand if this is under military orders, but short of that we must be vigilant and not allow a Vision to be at risk. Not even one as skilled as you are."

Kyrie x-vented, then canted her wings. "I understand," she said.

Aleno looked around. "I do not have enough hubris to demand that Visions whose primary flock is not this one follow my edict, but I would recommend it for Visions who have close ties to this flock."

"We will, though if they are stupid enough to assault a military Vision directly this becomes an entirely different conversation," Shredwing glanced at his creation for confirmation that Target would back him.

Tailwind glanced around. "While I would welcome protection, Skywarp is the only trained fighter close to my flock. We will make a point of not traveling alone."

"I am in much the same position," Sharpwind glanced at the two flock Orders who had the military and Martials heavy in their number. "A couple Actions know a little, but these Seekers took down an Air Martial in flight. No one among mine is that well trained."

Shredwing dipped his wings in understanding. "Even my civilian Visions are trained as well as a Martial. While they will not be alone, I am sure mine and my allies can spare the wings you both need."

"Which will leave my Martials to focus on the criminal investigation with our allies," Aleno agreed.

"We will figure this out," Target said, looking at Thundercracker and his trine.

"We will," Thundercracker agreed.

"I want to go back to Echo," Starscream insisted suddenly.

"With Fyat?" Skywarp asked as he reached for his Vision and Thundercracker reached for him.

Starscream looked in the direction that Fyat had gone, then shook his helm. "She's been through enough. Chiindii will be able to give her something stable. I--" His vocalizer cracked with static. "I'm not going to be that right now."

"Shu. She's strong. That's why we have flock," Skywarp tried to comfort him just before he teleported his trine to their injured creation's room.

* * *

Thundercracker's spark was heavy as he walked into the hospital room to join his trine and their surviving creations. Skywarp saw him first and his wings lifted. Starscream barely seemed to notice his presence, completely focused on Echo.

Echo was doing about as well as could be hoped for. He was still alive and was starting to engage with his creators again. He was being kept on so many pain blockers that it left him too dazed for most communication, but he could online his optics now, and was managing some limited sparkling chatter. So far the most common glyph had been his brother's designation.

"Starscream," Thundercracker murmured, wings low.

"What happened?" Skywarp asked as Starscream finally noticed his Order and looked around.

Thundercracker sighed and reached for Fyat when she chirped at him, needing to feel her teek and remind himself of what they still had. He brought her close to his chest and chirred to her. She reached up to touch her sire's face and Thundercracker allowed himself a moment to just nuzzle her.

"What happened?" Skywarp asked again.

"They couldn't make the charges stick to most of them," Thundercracker said quietly, and didn't even twitch when Starscream jumped to his pedes.

"What? _Why?_ "

"Highly paid defense attorneys. No evidence that what was recovered at the scene was known to those in the flock who weren't in that warehouse. Firedance ... no proof of intentional deactivation. Involuntary..." He couldn't say it.

"That is _slag!_ " Starscream snarled, wings hiking up. "It was purposeful, they wouldn't have even been there if they hadn't been taken!"

"I know. I agree. The entire flock should be excurmaed and executed. It will not happen," Thundercracker's wings were low despite his deep frustration and anger.

Starscream's wings trembled with his fury. "I'm going into work," he said. "There's _something_ to stick them with, we just have to figure out what that is. Skywarp, stay with the sparklings."

Skywarp hesitated, then scowled and set his wings. "No."

Starscream looked at him and opened his mouth, but Skywarp stood first.

"I said no, Star. I'm not leaving your side. You heard Aleno."

"Thundercracker will be with me," Starscream said. "And someone has to watch the sparklings."

"Skywarp's right," Thundercracker said. "We'll both be with you. Payload can watch the sparklings with Chiindii and Longjump, he's been helping Sharpwind's flock."

"Get them over here, then," Starscream said. "We're not doing Echo any good here."

Thundercracker nodded and pinged his flock-mate with the request. A moment later confirmation came back along with the note that Chiindii and Longjump were thrilled to care for the pair.

"Give them a couple breems to fly over and check in," Thundercracker told his Vision. "The fewer individuals Skywarp teleports in the better. It's one thing for the guards to recognize that the three of us may appear without passing by. It shouldn't be more than that."

Skywarp canted his wings in understanding and went back to watching Echo, trilling to him soothingly until the military Action arrived with two of Starscream's creators. Wing touches and greetings were exchanged all around and Fyat was placed into Chiindii's arms. The sparkling grumbled about it but she was used to the new strange way of doing things.

"Thank you for coming, Payload," Thundercracker said. "We appreciate it."

"Anytime," Payload said, and settled into a guard stance between the skylight and the sparklings.

"Where to?" Skywarp asked his trine.

"My office," Starscream said, and within moments they were there.

"What are you thinking?" Thundercracker asked his Vision.

"I'm thinking we need to look at the evidence we have and figure out what they didn't want us to find," Starscream said, going right to his workspace and pulling out drawers and grabbing tubes and chemicals and labels, all of it being added to the chaos that was his preferred working space.

"I'll help you until there's a lead to chase down," Thundercracker agreed.

Skywarp went to the largest window and stood guard, well aware that all this was way above his grade.

"How can I help?" Thundercracker asked, then settled into a familiar, if not often used anymore setting of playing lab assistant to his Vision.

"Hold these," Starscream said, and shoved a vial into one of Thundercracker's hands and a scale in the other. "And hold still."

* * *

Shafaf all but floated as she circled the crime flock's primary eyrie with her sensors wide open. Like so many of her missions she was there to gather intel and avoid detection, and remaining undetected was the first priority. If she learned nothing there could always be another stakeout. If she was detected it would compromise everything learned up to that point and potentially compromise future intel. So she kept her power at a minimum, her altitude as high as she could and every sensor in her maximized suite to listen and watch what was going on below.

There was conversation going on inside the eyrie, lots of it. In the lower levels she could pick out the harmonics of the Visions and the creations, but in the upper levels, it was Orders and Actions, angry, preparing for a fight. They didn't have a clue who was picking off their mid-ranged members and allies, but at the moment they were thinking it was a rival flock looking to move in. Three designations were given and Shafaf made note to pass that on to the hunters. Adding evidence, both real looking and obvious fakes was often useful in these hunts.

She continued to listen for joors as they debated, planned and let slip things that they never expected to be used against them because civilian law wouldn't allow the kind of invasion of privacy that she was doing. When her fuel level dropped far enough, she peeled away and broke the surveillance loop. She had enough for now, and every piece helped. This flock had attacked hers, over and over, to hide one of their own crimes. Visions were injured and scared, sparklings were hurt and worse.

"Anything good?" Target rumbled as she landed in her own eyrie.

"Designations, locations, plans and that they don't have a clue it's us," she said with a grin.

"Excellent," he wiggled his wings to reinforce the level of praise. He knew she didn't get the credit she deserved because so few believed in the value of spies and espionage. With a small motion he turned and she followed him into a meeting room that was well protected against the kind of observation she'd just done. This eyrie might not look it on the outside, but it was a military flock's eyrie. A place designed and built with war and protecting secrets firmly in mind.

"Who's next?" she asked as they joined the other Actions and a handful of Orders who were in on the strikes against the enemy flock.

"No one definite right now," Target said as they settled. "We're going to ease up a bit, considering how suspicious they've become. We don't want to push too hard. Let's see what we have from them today."

Shafaf nodded as she plugged into a central station so the information she'd gathered could be shared with everyone.

"There's a lot of noise here to sort through," she started off as the data download began. "They believe the same parties are responsible for the assassinations in their flock, but they think it's from a rival flock. As far as I can tell, we still aren't on their radar." She played a few relevant clips.

"Good." Shredwing flicked his wings with open pleasure. "What needs to be done to turn over the useful bits of this to the Martials so they can use it?"

"Mm. I didn't obtain it legally," Shafaf said, flicking her wings. "We could tell Aleno and Rico, and trust that they will use it without incriminating us. They couldn't take it to a court, but they could use it to find something that can."

"Aleno would not be happy about it," Airstrike said, frowning. "I'm not sure that's the best idea."

"Anonymous tips," Target spoke up. "I've heard several detectives speak of them as legal to use in getting warrants."

Shafaf cocked her wings with a frown. "Our Martials would know where it came from."

"Our Martials wouldn't be able to prove it," Target said. "That's all that matters. They know what we've been doing, but they have no proof, and it needs to stay that way. With it, they would be bound by their vows to arrest us."

"Very well," Airstrike said. "We will all go through the surveillance and decide what to call in."

* * *

Three orns later Starscream still hadn't left his office, so neither had his trine. He was also getting frustrated.

"There has to be _something_ here," he growled, looking at all of the spread out evidence, witness statements, and photos. "They killed Firedance because of something we have!"

"Maybe we don't," Thundercracker said. "Maybe we have something that will take us to the proof we need."

"Nothing here leads to _anything,_ " Starscream said, gesturing at the organized mess. "What could we possibly have?"

Thundercracker was quiet for a moment, then his wings perked. "We have the victim," he said.

"Yeah, and we've already processed his frame and found nothing," Starscream snorted.

"Yes we have," Thundercracker showed a bit of excitement even as he cursed himself for forgetting the second phase of investigation. "You found all sorts of evidence showing where he'd been in the orns before his deactivation. We know who he was. The next phase of investigation is to track where he was. You found that. Now it's time for me to go hunting."

"That's ridiculous," Starscream snorted. "No one was ever convicted of something because of where they were. It's _hard evidence._ "

"Maybe finding where he was will lead me to why they killed him," Thundercracker said, going over to his Action to touch his wing. "It might not get them convicted of _this_ murder, but there has to be something. 'Warp, stay with Starscream."

Skywarp nuzzled back. "I swore that I'm not leaving his side and I meant it."

"Thank you," Thundercracker murmured. "I'll figure this out," he promised his trine before heading to the roof to take off. He was both surprised and not to pick up two launches after him and hung back for his duty trine to catch up with a wing-wiggle of welcome-thanks.

* * *

Thundercracker landed with his duty trine at the eyrie of Airwave's flock and dipped his wings in polite acknowledgment that while he far outranked the flock Order socially, this was Smoke's flock and eyrie and Thundercracker was here solely at Smoke's agreement.

"They already came by to question us about Airwave," the flock Order said, flicking his wings in a broad gesture that the Air Martials could make themselves comfortable. "I don't understand what more you are hoping to gain."

"I am trying to trace his movements in the orns before his deactivation. His case is now part of a much larger investigation involving kidnapped sparklings, the deactivation of one of the sparklings, blackmail of an Air Martial and a crime flock involved in any number of felony enterprises," Thundercracker explained as those present settled. "I'm going over everything again. Any thoughts you might have on where he may have gone after you last saw him or who he may have gone to would be welcome."

Smoke shrugged his wings. "Like I told them back then, that was a bad time for our flock. Airwave's creator trine had just broken and he didn't want to follow any of them, and three of our Orders deactivated something like a decaorn later during the Rite. He didn't really have much of a link to the flock after that and he wanted to leave. We didn't keep track of him, we were just the last one he was registered with. I don't know where he was after he left."

"Even the smallest detail could be helpful," Thundercracker said. "I know there was a lot going on for your flock at that time. Maybe another flock he liked to visit, or a place he liked to refuel. Anything."

Smoke x-vented heavily. "There was a lot going on. Airwave wasn't spending much time here. He went to a clutch-mate's flock sometimes, Hedron, wherever that happened to be at the time. I don't know. There was barely a flock to speak of. I was surprised he didn't go to flock services."

"Flock services?" Thundercracker repeated.

"Hedron went there when things were getting unstable here," Smoke said with a shrug. "Airwave tended to follow him around."

"How do you know he didn't?" Thundercracker asked.

"Well I never received any follow-up from them," Smoke said. "Believe me, if someone in your flock goes to flock services voluntarily, you hear about it."

Thundercracker nodded. "I understand," he said. "Thank you, that gives me something to look into."

"Hope you can find an answer, Martial," Smoke said. "Airwave was troubled, but he wasn't suicidal. He just had some bad luck. This entire flock did, but he was so young at the time."

"I know. I'm not going to stop until I find those answers," Thundercracker said firmly.

Smoke cocked his helm. "Why now, why is he so important now?"

"Those seekerlings that were taken were mine, and the reason was because I was looking into Airwave's case. Whatever happened to Airwave, it is unbelievably important to a crime flock," Thundercracker answered. "My flock isn't safe until they are put away."

Smoke's wings flicked up, then lowered. "I'm sorry for your loss," he said.

"Thank you," Thundercracker accepted the reflexive platitude he'd heard of too much of lately, yet he still appreciated the thought. "I will let you know what happened to Airwave," he paused and handed a contact chip to Smoke."If you or anyone you know thinks of anything about Airwave or wish to speak with me, please do not hesitate to comm or come by the precinct. If I'm not in, they will know how to contact me. Everyone knows this case and who it belongs to."

* * *

Thundercracker was far more hopeful as he flew to the eyrie of Flagstone's flock. Hedron had been the one that kept pestering the Martials about Airwave's case to have it reclassified as a homicide and to check up on it. While he hadn't dropped by in a couple vorns, he'd sounded ecstatic when Thundercracker had commed him and had insisted taking time off work at the hospital was no problem. Thundercracker wasn't so sure it was really that easy, but he couldn't turn down that level of enthusiasm.

He banked down over the eyrie and saw a handful of the flock there. Hedron he recognized from the file he'd pulled from flock services when he'd first started looking into Airwave's case. Hedron had briefly been one of his suspects, as Thundercracker had investigated the idea of a murderer trying to relive the thrill, but he'd quickly dismissed the idea.

Hedron's wings lifted eagerly as Thundercracker transformed and touched down with his duty trine behind him. "Martial, thank you so much for coming," he said, rushing forward.

"Thank you for remembering your clutch mate," Thundercracker responded before looking over to the flock Order. "Flagstone. Thank you for indulging me."

"If it brings some peace to him, I'm all for helping," the well-respected builder dipped his wings. "The Martials have always been good for us. It's long past time we managed to return it."

"They should have looked into it more in the first place!" Hedron protested.

"Hedron." His flock order chastised him lightly. "Airwave was troubled. There was no reason to suspect more."

"Regardless," Thundercracker cut in quickly. "We'd like to figure out what happened to him. Sometimes it takes a concerned citizen to get us on the right track."

"How can I help?" Hedron asked eagerly.

"Tell me about Airwave, where he liked to go, where he went when he was troubled, who, besides you, he may have flown with. We're trying to retrace his path on that last orn. We know where he ended up. We need to figure out where he came from," Thundercracker spelled it out.

Hedron nodded eagerly. "It was a really bad time with our flock, he was there sometimes, with me sometimes, wherever I was at that point..." He shrugged his wings. "I'm sorry to say that he kind of bounced around a lot, even I didn't always know where he was. I kept telling him to go to flock services, they found me some good places to stay."

Thundercracker dipped his wings in understanding and thanks. "They're going to be our next stop. Did he have any places he liked to go, any other friends? Any reason to be in that district?"

"Where they found him?" Hedron shook his head. "No. I don't know why he would be over there. I know he was in some bad spots sometimes, but nothing that he couldn't have found shelter from. I don't know if flock services will help, he promised me he would go and told me he did, but then after he died I went to them for help and they didn't have any records of him."

"That may have been legal restrictions since you weren't his Order, but they will look much harder for me with a warrant," Thundercracker said. "If he visited even once there will be a file and it will be found."

Hedron nodded, then reached into his subspace. "I thought about some other things that might be useful. But I don't know what is and isn't. Just friends, places he liked to refuel, stuff like that. Can you stay for a while?"

"Yes," Thundercracker promised and backed it up with wings and field. "Why don't we sit down somewhere and really talk about him?"

"I'd rather stay here," Hedron said, and Thundercracker looked to Flagstone, who canted his wings in permission.

* * *

Thundercracker gestured for the deputies to follow him into Starscream's office with many, many boxes of datapads that had been pulled with his warrant from flock service's long term storage.

Starscream stared at them and Fyat chattered angrily at the deputies from Skywarp's helm for making a mess in her carrier's space.

"What. Is all that?" Starscream asked.

"A chance of some hard proof of Airwave's movements," Thundercracker said.

"There are thousands of datapads in there!"

"Maybe more," Thundercracker agreed, and went over to collect his chattering creation, tapping her on the nose. "Can you help me look?"

She perked up sharply and trilled, sitting up straighter. "Yes. I can read!"

Starscream looked over and couldn't help the indulgently proud look for the creation that took after him in frame and processor so much. He loved them all, but Fyat was going to carry on his true legacy simply by being herself.

"What are we looking for?" he asked, and Skywarp joined them.

"Anything with Airwave's designation," Thundercracker said, sitting down in front of one of the boxes. "You can help me," he told Fyat.

"By myself!" Fyat protested and struggled out of Thundercracker's hold and ran over to a box of her own.

Her creators looked at her indulgently, but it was Skywarp that walked over to her.

"This should be the designation on his forms," he put a scrap of flexi-sheet down next to her and claimed the next box over to start working on.

"Skywarp, would you..."

"I'll keep watch," Skywarp promised. "We won't miss anything. We'll be the best team, huh, Fyat?"

"Yep!" she chirped happily as she began the process of manhandling datapads almost as large as she was from the box.

Thundercracker took two of the boxes to his Vision so he could sit at the desk, then joined Skywarp and Fyat on the floor. He reached for one of the datapads but Fyat hissed at him.

"These are her boxes," Skywarp said with a chuckle, and pointed at the ones to Thundercracker's other side. "Those are yours."

"All right then," Thundercracker said, unfazed, and started looking through the other side. He hid his smile; it didn't feel quite right yet, but it was nice to see a small bit of levity.

* * *

"Have I ever mentioned how much I hate filing?" Starscream groused after joors of futile searching through the records.

"You have," Thundercracker and Skywarp said in unison.

"Recently," Thundercracker added.

"5 kliks," Fyat giggled as she shoved another datapad to the side and struggled to pull a new one out of her box.

"What she said," Skywarp deadpanned, and Thundercracker had to hide another small smile.

A few more kliks of silence passed, then Thundercracker and Starscream looked over when they saw Skywarp's wings raise excitedly. The Action was silent, though, looking over Fyat as she carefully compared the example of the designation given to her to the one she saw on the datapad in front of her.

"Found," she declared half a klik later and poked at the designation on the screen.

Thundercracker reached over to pick up the datapad and knew at a glance she was right. It wasn't a close variant that might be him, but the exact, full designation Airwave had when he would have gone.

"Good find," he praised the little seekerling and reached over to stroke her back.

She trilled happily as her creators all joined in the praising, then watched as Thundercracker stored the datapad into his subspace. "Helps find Firedance?" she asked.

Her creators paused before Starscream came over and scooped her up. "It will help find those who hurt him."

"And Echo," Fyat agreed.

Thundercracker sighed and touched her back. "When we find them we will take a mourning flight," he told his trine. "That will help. Fyat, do you remember what we talked about? That Firedance was hurt too much and can't come back?"

"Because of bad Seekers," she said, looking up at her sire.

"Yes, because of bad Seekers," Thundercracker agreed. "Now we're going to take you home so Chiindii can watch you for a while."

Fyat huffed. "Chiindii's weird."

Starscream's wings shook in a move that looked like half laugh, half sob. "Yes, Chiindii is weird," he agreed. "But he loves you and he'll always take care of you."

She sighed. "Okay."

"We love you, little one," Skywarp said, joining his trine to pet her helm. Fyat chirred, a happy sound but dampened by the teeks of her creators.

* * *

"How may I help you, Martials?" the lavender and cream Seeker smiled at them as they approached the central desk in flock services. Her teek was hopeful that this wasn't too bad a situation.

"We need to speak to..." Thundercracker glanced at the datapad. "Skyshine." It felt a little odd to have his trine behind him rather than his duty trine, but there was no shaking the pair now that they had a real lead.

"Oh." Her wings perked and her smile didn't falter. "Okay. She's working in another office right now, but if it's records, any of us can probably help."

"I'm investigating a murder," Thundercracker said. "As far as I know, she's the last to see our victim alive and I'd prefer her perspective in this matter."

"Oh." The wings lowered a bit. "I see. Yes, of course. I'll comm for her right away."

"We'll wait," Thundercracker said, and they settled into the waiting area.

"Another office?" Starscream glanced at Thundercracker. "Is that normal?"

"Uncommon, but it happens," Thundercracker hushed him.

A few breems later a Seeker walked in, and the first one they'd spoken to pointed at them. Thundercracker stood. "Skyshine?"

She nodded. "I understand you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes," Thundercracker said as the trine stood. "Do you remember Airwave? He came in a decade ago."

"I'm ... afraid I see so many come through here," she said, and motioned for the trine to follow her through security and into the back offices. "I may need some reminders." They all sat down around a table with some lounge chairs, directly below a skylight and obviously designed to make those who came here feel more at ease.

"This is the form he filled out," Thundercracker said, handing it over. Skyshine took it and began scanning. "When I first requested data from this office, his designation did not come up in the records."

"Mm, not surprising," Skyshine said. "There is no follow-up on this file. If they come in once and never come back, we leave them be and it doesn't go on official record. Many just need to know there is someone to help them should they catch a bad current."

"This is what he looked like," Thundercracker offered her an image capture taken only a couple vorns before his deactivation.

"Hmm." She took the picture and looked at it. "Yes ... I think I do remember him. Couldn't get a sense of community from his flock, no support system..." She tapped her finger on the image. "You know, I remember being surprised that he didn't come back. I thought he actually needed the help."

"He didn't return to his flock. He didn't go to anyone he knew. Where else would such a Seeker go? He ended up in district 17," Thundercracker told her.

"District 17?" Skyshine looked up, wings canting back. "They found someone we were working with murdered there when I first started working here. Century ago, about."

That perked Thundercracker's wings up. "Do you recall a designation, or at least a date?"

Skyshine flicked her wings in a negative. "I'm sure there are records, somewhere. There was a Martial out here then, too."

"I remember him!" the Seeker who had first greeted them called over, and motioned one of the other staff over to cover the window for her. "That was Streamline. Almost her entire flock was killed in the Rite, that one with the cluster lightning?"

"We flew in that one," Thundercracker said, nodding. "So she came to flock services?"

"Yeah, and since it was just a tragedy, and not drugs or abuse or anything like that, we all thought she would find a flock quickly. She'd come back a few times, and then, gone. Found gray in the 17th district. There was an investigation but nothing came of it."

"Thank you. We will look into it," Thundercracker promised. "Were there any others who dropped off the radar that made you take note?" he asked them both.

Both Seekers shrugged their wings. "There are a lot of fliers who come through here that we never see again," Skyshine said. "I'll ask around, see if anyone remembers anything."

"Thank you for your time," Thundercracker said. Rising, he turned to his trine. "Let's go check out Streamline."

* * *

Thundercracker ignored the pitying looks and canted wings as he walked through the precinct office to his office flanked by his trine. It had been emptied after his cover resignation, but not reassigned. Even though he'd been back for half a decaorn, he hadn't taken the time to move in again beyond what he'd needed. Most of the things that had been taken out were still boxed up. His duty trine was waiting for him and a glance under Long Vector's wing said that the pair had done a bit more of the moving in for him.

"I need the files on an old murder, designation Streamline," Thundercracker told his Captain when he came up behind. "Skywarp and Starscream are staying with me."

"That's fine," Riftdancer said. "Given the circumstances."

Thundercracker logged in and pulled up the details of the case. "I'd like to talk to the assigned officer," he said, pulling up the designation. "Blackwing. I don't know him."

Riftdancer's wings hiked up. "Blackwing deactivated, about a century ago."

Thundercracker stilled, then turned. "Deactivated?"

"Flying accident," Riftdancer said. "He got caught in a jetwash and couldn't correct, crashed."

"An Air Martial who couldn't correct from a jetwash?" Skywarp's tone was sharper than recommended, but not quite sharp enough for a captain that wasn't his to reprimand him.

"That's what the investigation concluded," Riftdancer responded even as his tone said he wasn't going to defend that conclusion the way he normally would. Recent events made it more suspicious than it had already been.

"What are the chances that isn't a coincidence?" Thundercracker asked with a growl from his turbines. "Two Enforcers look into these, one dies, the other one's sparklings are taken?"

"There is no evidence of a link," Riftdancer warned him. "You will need to be careful drawing assumptions."

Thundercracker's wings dipped in understanding. "We will ensure all evidence and requested charges will stand up in court," he indicated both his true and duty trines. "I will not lose a conviction over shoddy work."

Riftdancer flicked his wings in approval. "I agree something strange is going on. I will authorize any support you need."

"I think I need to take a closer look at flock service's records," Thundercracker said as he started looking the Blackwing's notes on his final case. "Another cold case, just a Seeker found deactivated in a bad neighborhood."

"Put together the warrant you want and I'll get it to a judge to sign," Riftdancer promised and watched them walk towards Thundercracker's office with no doubt the place was going to be turned into a conspiracy theory zone in short order, and that one of those theories would eventually be proven true. Thundercracker and his duty trine were all steady detectives, Starscream was a perfectionist and relentless in pursuit of the truth and as juvenile as Skywarp had a reputation of being, he also had a reputation of being extremely loyal and effective at his job. One did not become SWAT or S&R, much less both, without an ability to think fast, stay on task and follow procedures when it counted.

In all, the five would be a force to recon with.

"I wonder how many there are," Starscream mused quietly as they filed into Thundercracker's still packed up office.

"I'll look it up," Skywarp surprised them all as he warped to the terminal and logged in. He looked up at the stares he got. "What? I'm only dim compared to you two."

Starscream stared at him for a moment, then flicked his wings and actually gave a small smile. "You're not dim," he murmured.

Skywarp's wings wiggled at the compliment from the smartest mech he knew and went to work on sorting the hundreds of results from the past two centuries. He started by removing any that were of residents of district 17, which shortened the list considerably. Another chunk went away when he sorted out those that had been public.

The final list, though, was bigger than he would have suspected. All fliers not from those districts, whose murders had never been solved.

When he pinged the list back to Thundercracker, his Order canted his wings grimly. "We need to go through all the physical records in flock services that correlate with these dates and see if any more of these found their way there."

"I'll get the evidence," Skywarp offered as he pinged the case list to a datapad before he warped away, taking Starscream with him.

"I'll get on the warrant," Long Vector said.

"We really should get this unpacked," Shimmerlock motioned around the boxes. "We all work better when our gear's in place."

Thundercracker dipped his wings in agreement and they went to work putting the space back in order for the mass of records and data that was soon going to be pouring in.

* * *

The amount of information pulled from flock services's records was impressive. They had called in a shuttle from their liaison in Helix just to help move everything. The highly visible nature of it left Thundercracker on edge and constantly checking in with his trine, his sparklings, and his flock. So far, Aleno's edict on protecting their Visions had been successful. It didn't make him any less nervous or the uptick in the murder rate any less concerning. No one could make a pattern of it, but it had every Martial and prosecutor in the city convinced that _someone_ was cleaning house and removing loose ends. It just wasn't any connection that they'd been able to make.

Thundercracker's office had long been abandoned as the case became larger and the number of officers involved increased. It was his first time leading an investigation of this scale or of this political importance. The average citizen was starting to notice and social media was paying close attention.

"Found another," Skywarp said, pulling a datapad out of the pile. "This one went missing, the flock thought he might have gone to flock services. Looks like he did."

"That makes twenty missing," Thundercracker said.

"And hundreds of files still to go," Shimmerlock groaned and stretched, though no one thought he was actually complaining. He was simply an Action deep in records review.

"It's a definite pattern though. Well worth interviewing anyone who we know spoke to these," Jericho added from further down the table.

"Agreed," Thundercracker said, looking at a designation and comparing it to the list they had of murders and disappearances. No match. Most of them weren't, making this gigantic task feel all the more tedious.

"From what I can tell, there was a case worker there about one century ago who was getting about a quarter of the total interviews," Starscream said, from where he was looking over the datapads, logging all the details and looking for any links. "Not just the deactivated and missing ones, though. Just total in terms of numbers. Probably a supervisor. He might know something and not realize it."

Jerico dipped his wings in agreement, a signal several other detectives mirrored.

"He should be one of our first interviews then. Anyone that was there so much would have seen and known the social flow of the office," Thundercracker gave his Vision a smile.

"So are we going to interview Softwind before or after we finish this pile?" Shimmerlock asked with an Action's typical desire to move.

"After," Thundercracker said firmly. "We need to have as much backup as possible."

* * *

Thundercracker banked left, his duty trine on his wing, with Skywarp and Starscream following not far behind. The eyrie where Softwind's primary flock resided was in the middle ring of the city, a modest size with a nest visible from the top. Thundercracker landed at the base, transformed, and chimed.

An Action arrived to greet him just a few kliks later. "Martials?"

"We would speak with Softwind," Thundercracker spoke for his duty trine.

The Action's wings flicked, there was the low buzz of a comm, and then he nodded. "He should be back soon, you can wait inside. Is everything okay?"

"Thank you. We do not suspect Softwind of any wrongdoing. We are hoping he remembers something about a mech a half century ago," Thundercracker explained as they walked inside.

"Oh, from flock services?" The Action gestured them into the lift and followed after, keying in the code to go to the top. "Yeah. A lot of troubled fliers went through there. I hope Softwind can help." His harmonics indicated Softwind as a flock mate, but not trine.

"Yes, from flock services," Thundercracker said agreeably on the lift ride up. "Did he talk about work much?"

The Action shrugged his wings. "As much as anyone does, I suppose. The really extreme cases, for the most part. The ones that were really hard or ended really well."

The lift stopped at the top level of the eyrie and the Action gestured to a few lounges near it. "I'll send him over when he's back. Not long, I imagine. I hope you're not in a hurry though?"

"No. The case is old. We'll wait for him," Thundercracker assured him as he settled with Long Vector and Shimmerlock. ::Skywarp, we might be here for a while. Take Starscream somewhere safe that doesn't feel like it.::

There was a pause, and definite confusion from his Action. ::Like...::

::Like he's going to start glitching if we keep him cooped up in the eyrie or shadowing me at work for much longer,:: Thundercracker said. ::A cafe with good sight lines, maybe a theater if you can get a private box. Something to get him out. I trust you.::

::I can do that,:: Skywarp said. ::I know the perfect spot. And I can jump us away if anything looks bad.::

::Thank you,:: Thundercracker said, and closed the line.

::How are Starscream and Fyat doing?:: Shimmerlock asked conversationally while they waited and watched the limited daytime activity of a working class flock with a nest go on around them.

::Getting by,:: Thundercracker sighed. ::I think, right now, everyone is just focusing on this so that we don't have to think about what happened.::

::At least you have something to focus on,:: Shimmerlock hummed softly. ::Echo is still improving?::

::Yes,:: Thundercracker said, and flicked his wings in an indication that he didn't want to talk more about it.

Shimmerlock canted his wings in understanding.

It wasn't long before the Action who had greeted them looked up at an approaching flier, then gestured for Thundercracker and his duty trine over.

"Softwind?" Thundercracker asked.

"Yes, and he knows you're here. He's willing to talk, though he's not sure he knows anything of value," the Action responded.

"It is not uncommon for witnesses to not recognize the importance of what they've seen or know. Part of our training is in how to find the things one knows but isn't aware of," Thundercracker assured him.

Softwind banked down through the flock's upper entrance and landed, wings canting down as he transformed. "Martial," he said, and a look to the flock Action resulted in them being given a space of relative privacy as the walked towards the lounges where Thundercracker had been waiting. "How can I help?"

"We are investigating a series disappearances and deactivation in the last two centuries. Most have passed through flock services and many were assigned to or spoke to you," Thundercracker opened the conversation once Softwind was seated. "We're hoping you may have seen something, maybe a mech that several of them spoke to, or someone who seemed to hang around to make friends but didn't actually need any help." With that he offered a datapad with a list of designations, dates and images. "We're sure there is a connection that we haven't found yet."

Softwind's wings twitched as he took the datapad and he stared down it. "I ... this was a long time ago," he said. "We got so many of the fly-bys, it's hard to remember. These are all fly-bys?"

"Fly-bys?" Thundercracker asked.

"The ones that come in, talk to us, and never come back," Softwind said. "Fly-bys."

"Yes, they are all fly-bys," Thundercracker confirmed, watching Softwind's expression closely. There was another flick of the wings, a small frown.

"This was a long time ago," Softwind said.

"We know," Thundercracker said gently. "We know that any designation or description you might remember could be innocent. We're just trying to give a lot of flocks and kin closure, to know what happened to their missing ones."

"These are _all_ missing?" Softwind asked, scrolling through.

"Or deactivated, yes," Thundercracker said.

Softwind sat back with a heavy x-vent. "I don't remember any of them having in common. Other than us, at least."

"Possibly someone they talked to?" Shimmerlock suggested. "Or a place they might have stopped by after for fuel, maybe something that isn't even open anymore?"

Softwind frowned, and seemed to be debating something with himself. The Martials gave him time, waiting patiently to see what decision he came to on his own.

"I..." Softwind x-vented again, hands clasping and unclasping. "There was, I never gave it much thought, there was this flier that liked to hang around. Talk to a lot, didn't work there." He wouldn't meet Thundercracker's optics. "I don't know his designation, I think he worked at a parts shop that used to be just across from us. We never liked that shop being there, I think it finally closed. Attracted all the wrong sorts, _grounders_ even. Please--don't put my designation into this, Martial."

"We won't," Thundercracker promised. "It's not as if you are the only potential source. We still need to track down the flier. He wasn't a Seeker?"

"A mix, probably," Softwind said.

"Do you still have a memory file of his appearance?" Thundercracker asked carefully. "Even if it's just his major colors it would be helpful."

"Yeah," Softwind said, holding an arm out for a dataport. "Isn't the greatest."

"It's a great deal more than we had this morning," Thundercracker assured him and plugged in to accept the transfer, then unplugged and processed more than just the image file. In there was what Softwind recalled of timing, exchanges, and others who might know of the half-breed.

There was no designation, not even a hint of one, but Thundercracker didn't need one. He recognized the face from known criminals in the area.

"A _great_ deal more," Thundercracker's wings lifted in excitement. "You may not know him, but we do. He's well known to the Martials. Thank you."

* * *

Thundercracker flicked his wings to signal to Skywarp that he had positively ID'd the half-breed that had been tracking who they hoped would provide some of the answers they were looking for. That the half-breed had a criminal record somehow came as no surprise to the seasoned Martial. In his opinion, this creature should have been deported from their city centuries ago, along with all those like him. The grounders he could do without as well, though at least they understood their place better than the flying mongrels.

There was a brief moment, and then the Sierki was in front of him, held firmly in Skywarp's strong grip. Tabre squirmed for a while until the markings on Thundercracker's wings registered.

"What do you want, Martial?" Tabre hissed.

"I just have a few questions," Thundercracker said, and then they were being jumped carefully across the city until they were in a precinct holding cell.

"What a _wonderful_ trick," Tabre sneered at Skywarp.

"Why do you like to hang around flock services?" Thundercracker asked.

"'Cause they're desperate enough not to look at me like a monster," Tabre said with a smirk.

"I do not appreciate crassness," Thundercracker said, and a flick of his wings dismissed his Action. Skywarp vanished. Thundercracker pulled a datapad from his subspace and began to scroll through it. "I find it interesting that you can afford to live here. Your finish looks well tended, your frame is in good working order, and yet I can find no records of an income source. How are you getting credits?"

"Flock," Tabre shrugged. "I run errands for them and they support me because no one will hire me."

"What a gracious flock Order, to support you. What kinds of errands?" Thundercracker asked.

"That's what flock does, Martial," Tabre fluffed his armor in agitation. "Something your kind don't seem to understand. I do what they ask me to. Fetch things, deliver things, keep an optic out for others like me whose flocks have turned them out."

"Which is why you like to hang around flock services so much," Thundercracker said, nodding. "You know what I find interesting, Tabre? I have a list here of dozens of Seekers whose last known location was flock services. After that..." He shrugged his wings and pulled up a picture. "After that they go missing, or in a few cases, they are found deactivated in gutters. Correct me if I'm wrong, here, but this memory capture seems to show you talking to one of them, which now makes _you_ the last one to see this Seeker alive. Something like that really doesn't look favorable for half-breed in court." He turned the screen around for Tabre to see.

"No, I'm not. I'm just the last one you found. I haven't deactivated anyone," Tabre hissed. "You'd just rather close a case than do the work to see the actual criminal is convicted. You're just like every other Martial. More worried about appearances than truth."

"Except I _do_ care about finding the truth," Thundercracker said. "And you could help me with that, but somehow, I imagine you're too much of a coward to do that. Either way, we have evidence of you, from camera and memory captures, being the last one known to be in contact with at least three deactivated Seekers. That means you aren't leaving here, unless you help us. But since I've known enough of your kind to realize that will never happen, I'm going to have to settle for you. Do you know what the punishment is for half-breeds found to have deactivated Seekers?"

"Same as it is for any felony and half of the rest," Tabre snorted. "And now that you've started with the threats, you can talk to my lawyer."

Thundercracker's wings flicked and he straightened. "Then I'll talk to your lawyer," he said, and left.

"Nice," Skywarp commented.

"He's in with a crime flock, I would have been shocked if he didn't go for a lawyer," Thundercracker said, frowning at the fidgeting half-breed. "I'm hoping they don't actually care about him as much as he thinks they do and he won't have access to their resources. Then, maybe, he'll turn. He can't walk out of here, at least."

* * *

"Thundercracker!"

Thundercracker cringed, then x-vented, and straightened in his chair in time to see Ether storming towards him.

"What was that collision course in there?" Ether demanded. "Lawyering up in less than five kliks? You're better than that!"

"I am. He didn't react as I expected. Such minor members don't normally have such confidence in their value," Thundercracker pointed out. It was a losing argument, he was in the wrong as far as Ether was concerned, but he wasn't going to get a slap on the wing quietly when he hadn't done anything wrong.

"I'm flying on low fuel here letting you take point on this," Ether said. "Something else like that happens and I'm pulling you and giving it to someone in a different flock. _Fix_ that," he growled, pointing towards where Tabre was being held.

"Yes sir," Thundercracker stood and dipped his wings in acceptance of the order. He couldn't ask questions of the prisoner but he could talk at him. Maybe some of it would penetrate.

Long Vector and Shimmerlock fell in step with him before he reached the lift. When they got to the holding level, there was already a Seeker being scanned by the guard. Sharp lines, matte black and polished ivory played off each other in his wings. "And you are?" Thundercracker demanded immediately.

"I am Tabre's lawyer," the Seeker said calmly. "I hope you aren't here to interrogate my client after he has already asked for counsel."

"Hardly. I want to make sure nothing bad happens to my lead," Thundercracker snorted through his vents. "I want to make his problems go away. He has to agree to talk first, however."

"That is part of what _I_ will be deciding for my client, Martial," the lawyer said. "Which, you will recall from your most basic law classes, we have the right to do in privacy. If you'll excuse me."

Long Vector stepped over to the guard as the lawyer walked away to collect the credential information that was given.

"That one's full of himself, even for a lawyer," Shimmerlock grumbled once the lawyer was out of hearing.

"Agreed," Thundercracker frowned. "He's not one I know either."

"I'll run down who he works for," Long Vector said before going to the lift again.

Thundercracker flicked a wing in agreement. "I'm going to watch. Something's not right in this."

"Something's not right about lawyers, period," Shimmerlock snorted.

"No," Thundercracker murmured. "That's not what I mean." He made his way over to the view screen and palmed it on, seeing the lawyer squeezing Tabre's arm in what looked like a comforting motion. "I have a hard time believing that a half-breed is really worth this caliber of attention."

"Not much we can do about it," Shimmerlock said.

"Only watch and be ready," Thundercracker said as tension began to creep into him. ::Warp ... how is Star?::

He felt Skywarp's sigh. ::He's doing the angry sulking thing again. Lets me watch him but not much else. Won't play with Fyat and she's crying about it.::

::As soon as this lawyer leaves, I'll come by. It might not help Star's mood, but I haven't been around for Fyat or Echo enough,:: Thundercracker apologized and promised all in one.

::They miss you,:: Skywarp agreed. ::How are things?::

::Not going well,:: Thundercracker admitted. ::I'm watching a lawyer sweet talk a low level criminal into not rolling over on his bosses.::

::That sounds horrible,:: Skywarp said. :Since when do they get lawyers?::

::Since they must be protecting something huge,:: Thundercracker said, then frowned. The lawyer was pulling two cubes out from his subspace. "Were those scanned?" he called down to the guard.

He nodded. "Everything checked out."

It forced Thundercracker to relax, though he still didn't trust this. The lawyer was too smooth for such a minor criminal and the gifts over the top. Not so much he could demand answers and expect to get them, but enough that he was going to keep watching carefully, even after that lawyer left.

"Something isn't right," Thundercracker murmured.

Shimmerlock glanced at him before focusing back on the pair in the conference room. "You see something?"

"Just a feeling," Thundercracker said, watching Tabre sip on the energon while the lawyer talked a bit more. When the lawyer stood Thundercracker moved to intercept him at the door. "Not yet. I have questions for him."

The lawyer gave him a sour look. "Very well," he intoned. "Although as I have counseled my client not to speak to you, this will be pointless."

"It is what we are both paid to do," Thundercracker shrugged his wings and pinged Skywarp to come. This was not a situation to be visibly down a trinemate. He had some intimidating to do and a lawyer to bluff.

The lawyer huffed but turned around to stand beside his client while Thundercracker sat across from Tabre. Shimmerlock took his place on the Order's left. A nanoklik later Skywarp appeared on Thundercracker's right.

"You just love that trick, don't you," Tabre sneered at Skywarp.

"It's a gift," Skywarp said with a grin and a shrug.

"Hush," the lawyer snapped at Tabre, whose wings flicked up and tensed. "Don't engage with Martials."

"Yet engaging with Martials is the only way he'll save his wings," Thundercracker said calmly. "Did you tell him how many Sierki are declared innocent of murder charges?"

"That has little standing on his case," the lawyer said, frowning at Thundercracker, his wings flicked in annoyance. "You have no evidence to support a case. Would you prefer I told him how many beat their charges when no evidence is presented?"

"You assume there is no evidence incorrectly. What is your hurry to leave?" Thundercracker hummed. "Is it that you recognize a hopeless case and don't wish to spend your time on it?"

The lawyer's smile reminded Thundercracker of grease. "Not at all. I simply don't enjoy having my time wasted, Martial, and as I have already counseled my client not to speak to you, this is a waste of my time. Do you have any questions for my client, or no?"

Thundercracker focused all his natural and trained authority on the mech that had every reason to be terrified of him even as he pinged Long Vector on a carefully scrambled channel to find out about this lawyer. "Do you want to save your wings?"

"Yeah, that's what he's for," Tabre said, flicking a wing at the lawyer. "I know what Martials do to half-breeds. I'm not new to Vos."

"Shu," the lawyer hissed. "What you don't say can't be used against you."

"True," Thundercracker acknowledged. "However what you don't say can't help you either."

Tabre's wings flicked a little uncertainly as his optics darted back and forth between Thundercracker and the lawyer. "I don't have anything to say to you," he said.

"You sure about that?" Thundercracker cocked his wings in a mixture of curious and surprised that looked as good as it was false.

"Yes," Tabre said firmly, though only his lawyer's touch stopped him at that.

"Very well. I'll hand this over to the DA and your lawyer can deal with the city's lawyers then," Thundercracker stood and motioned the lawyer out. "You won't win this one."

"You're not actually..." Shimmerlock said once they were out of hearing range.

"Absolutely not," Thundercracker said. "I _am_ going to watch Tabre until I feel comfortable that he's safe. Skywarp, you'll stay with me. Who is with Starscream?"

"Target," Skywarp said.

Thundercracker's wings lowered a little as some of the tension in them released. "Good," he said. "Shimmerlock, get with Long Vector and see if you can track down who that lawyer is. Obviously this isn't the simple check it should have been."

Shimmerlock canted his wings and parted from them at the next lift, while Skywarp and Thundercracker continued to where Tabre would be held.

"Do you think something's going to happen to him?" Skywarp asked after a joor or so of watching Tabre from the cell surveillance center.

"Yes. They're going to try to be rid of him. It happens all the time to investigations into the crime flocks. Witnesses disappear, extinguish suddenly or are intimidated into silence. It's just a question of when and how with this one," Thundercracker grumbled mostly to himself.

"That's awful," Skywarp said. "Even if he is a half-breed, you shouldn't have to be afraid of your flock."

"He isn't, though," Thundercracker said. "They've tricked him into thinking they're going to support him through this." He shook his helm sadly, then sat up a bit straighter and locked onto the monitor. Tabre was moving restlessly on the berth, his wings quivering now and then in discomfort.

"Skywarp, get him to the hospital, trauma wing," he said, and called in an immediate emergency.

"Right," Skywarp nodded and was gone. He appeared in Tabre's cell, startling the half-breed, but they were both gone before Tabre could do more than give a startled squawk.

Thundercracker stood up and stretched, then waited about half a klik before Skywarp was back and he was being pulled through the air, finally landing in the middle of a bustling trauma center.

"Watch it!" one of the medics, not unfamiliar with Skywarp's brand of entrance, snapped at them as he pulled up short.

"Sorry!" Skywarp said, and pulled Thundercracker to the side with him. "Middle's the only place that mostly never has patients in it," he told Thundercracker.

"Tabre?" Thundercracker asked, looking around.

"Umm... There," Skywarp said, pointing to a cordoned off trauma section. "I think. I went to get you as soon as they had him on a berth."

Thundercracker nodded and they worked to where they could watch without being in the way. It was only kliks before one of the medics came up to him.

"What preceded this?"

"I suspect poisoned energon roughly a joor ago. The cube is still in his subspace, but it passed all the standard scans. He met with his lawyer, was given energon, then taken to his cell. He had no contact with anyone but the Martials assigned to escort him, my duty trine, Skywarp and his lawyer," Thundercracker responded.

The medic nodded. "That helps. It gives us a direction to look in. I wouldn't call him stable, but I think if he'd gotten here even a klik later, he wouldn't still be around."

"He's the critical witness in the murder of a Seekerling and the crime flock responsible. A Martial will be guarding him at all times and he is to have no visitors. Not even his lawyer," Thundercracker glanced over at the young half-breed and almost felt sorry for him. "I need him alive."

"Understood, Martial," the medic said, and accepted Thundercracker's comm ping for contact. "We will keep you apprised."

"Thank you," Thundercracker said, flicking his wings, and had Skywarp take him back so he could explain what was happening to Ether.

"Good timing. We finally worked out roughly what happened with the lawyer," Long Vector looked over at his duty trine Order from where he'd been in a quiet conference with the district Order while Shimmerlock stood guard.

"So it's not a simple thing that went wrong," Thundercracker sighed. "How hard is this going to be?"

"Hard," Ether said grimly. "The credentials are real, but it's an impersonator good enough we wouldn't have believed it if the real Telsin hadn't been in court arguing a case."

"He's been informed," Shimmerlock said. "He's going to start his own search into how his credentials were stolen so effectively. But he suspects, and so do I, that they may well have been burner credentials."

"Kept for one use and then retired," Thundercracker said. "And who knows how many they might have at their disposal." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hopefully this will convince Tabre to help us. They don't care about him."

* * *

Thundercracker had Skywarp jump him back to the hospital as soon as he received the comm that Tabre was stable. He strode to the medic he'd already spoken with, who was waiting, and hid his startlement at the speed of the arrival well. "What did you find?" he asked.

"We took a sample of his internal energon when he first arrived," the medic said. "When a sample is taken, it's immediately put into a kind of stasus--frozen, almost. So we can check for anything that might have broken down." He gestured for Thundercracker to follow him. "In this case, we did find something." They entered an office where images were pulled up. The medic tapped something into control pad and the image zoomed in.

Thundercracker peered. "What am I looking at?" he asked.

"Nanites," the medic said. "As you can see, they are in various different states. This one--" The image shifted. "Is nearly gone, dissolved by acid. But others..." The image moved again. "This one looks like it's partially open, and it does appear as though they are releasing acid."

"Is acid what did all the damage to my witness?" Thundercracker focused on the relevant information to him.

"It would explain the symptoms, and the damage we saw," the medic said. "I would feel fairly confident saying so, yes. It looks like it was designed for the nanites to dissolve once the acid was released. We were able to extract one, the internal chemical was fairly stable, but once it came into contact with the compounds found in internal energon, it acidified."

"Will you help explain this to me with visuals and data?" Thundercracker asked. "I'm talking about convincing him that his adoptive flock really set this up and it was in the energon given by his lawyer. I can cover logic and why, but sometimes a medic explaining how gets more results."

"I won't lie or pressure him," the medic gave the Martials a wary look.

"I'm not asking you to. Just tell the truth, same as you would in court if this was an attempted murder case," Thundercracker assured him.

The medic looked at him with wings canted uncertainly. "Can you provide proof that the last thing he consumed was energon provided by his flock?"

"On vid," Thundercracker canted his wings with confidence.

"Then I would be willing to give my opinion that it was the most likely source," the medic said.

"Good. Let's talk to him before he shuts down again," Thundercracker motioned the medic to take them to the room where Tabre was being kept. There were Martials on either side of the door and the flier had been fitted with a stasis collar, just in case.

"Tabre?" the medic asked gently. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a storm tore my insides out," Tabre said weakly as his optics flicked to Thundercracker.

"That's about right," the Air Martial told him. "That energon your lawyer gave you had acid-filled nanites in it. If I wasn't watching with Skywarp at the ready, you wouldn't have survived."

Tabre's optics brightened. "No," he said. "No, that's a lie, to make me do what you want."

"Tabre," the medic said. "I am not allowed, nor am I capable, of lying to you. Based on what we found, we do believe the attack was delivered through the last energon you consumed."

"But ... but, why? I didn't turn!" Tabre cried out, his wings shaking in shocked denial.

"They don't care about you," Thundercracker said. "They want you gone, because you know something that can hurt them, and getting rid of it is more important than your life to them. They are not your flock."

"They take care of me, took me in when even flock services couldn't help me anymore, even helped me get a job," Tabre denied it. "They can't have. They wouldn't."

"The lawyer they sent used stolen credentials," Thundercracker said.

Tabre shook his helm. "No..."

Thundercracker sighed. "They took you in because they knew they could manipulate you, and you were expendable to them. I'll be honest, Tabre, I don't have enough to convict you. You know that and I know that. But I can keep you safe. You can _help_ us find out what is happening."

"Unless you can get me set up in Crystal City or Praxus, you can't keep me safe for long," Tabre murmured.

"When this is done, I can make some calls," Thundercracker said.

"A city like Crystal City is much more welcoming to all fliers," the medic said. "I've known many who go that way. Vos is a hard place for some."

"I don't trust you that much," Tabre stared at Thundercracker with all his will. "Deal first; signed and filed before I roll over."

"I'll run it by my superior. You might have to be satisfied with a verbal agreement," Thundercracker responded.

"I won't be," Tabre insisted, though he wasn't fooling anyone, not even himself.

"I don't really see you as being in a place to demand anything," Thundercracker said calmly. "I will discuss it with my superior, and you can think about it during that time. When you are assessed to be stable enough, you will be transported back to custody."

* * *

Thundercracker walked with his duty trine flanking him from behind, just as when they flew. Tabre was repaired well enough to be transferred back to his cell and had been assigned a lawyer from the public defenders office that everyone was confident wasn't bought by any criminal. Now it was time to see if he'd take the best deal he'd ever been offered. Even though he'd asked for more, Thundercracker was honestly a bit surprised at how much of a deal he'd been allowed to offer the half-breed for his information. Transportation and the means to start in a new city. _If_ what Tabre said gave them conclusive leads that lead to a conviction in this case. Ether had refused to sign anything for a half-breed, not even in this case. Thundercracker was just grateful that even without the district Order's signature a deal reached between a defendant's lawyer and the prosecutor's office would hold.

The catch was that without Ether's signature, they had to prove the information was there and likely valid before the prosecutor's office would agree to the deal. It was the first time Thundercracker really grasped just how anti-productive the processor set was. As he walked into the interrogation room he made a point to draw Tabre's attention to the camera. "Everything's being recorded."

Tabre sat up as soon as he saw Thundercracker, wings going up even as he nodded slightly at the statement. "Well?"

His new lawyer remained silent, but he'd been informed of the offer already so he knew it was coming even if Tabre hadn't brought it up.

"You probably know the drill better than I do at this point. Provide good information and you'll have your deal, but not before," Thundercracker said firmly.

"So what do I get if it's good?" Tabre asked sullenly.

"You get a new identity if you wish it, transportation to a city of your choice, some credits and an introduction to a flock with a legal income in that city," Thundercracker spelled out what relocation meant.

"How long do I have to think about it?" Tabre asked.

"Tabre," he lawyer murmured.

"You may talk with your lawyer. After that, you'll have until I leave the room," Thundercracker gave as much as he dared.

"This is a good deal," Tabre's lawyer said. "I advise you take it. At trial, in this city, there is much to stand against you."

"But not proof of--of what they're saying!" Tabre protested. "That I helped kill Seekers!"

"Perhaps," the lawyer said. "But there is enough to sway a jury. Do you think there will be other non-Seekers to judge you?"

Tabre's wings drooped. "Vos is my home."

"It may, perhaps, be time to locate a new home," his lawyer said. "That is my advice."

Tabre looked up at Thundercracker, and nodded. "Okay, okay. I--there are some things I know."

Thundercracker settled and took out a datapad to make notes and download a recording of this entire meeting when it was over. "What do you know?"

"I had a job, for my energon," Tabre said. "I was supposed to find Seekers who fit specific criteria, and then recommend them to this place where they could find help, but off the record. So that they wouldn't have that following them around, and it wouldn't hurt their flock if they still wanted to spare them of that."

"Where is this place?" Thundercracker directed the conversation.

"The flock Order's clutchmate's secondary eyrie," Tabre said, clearly reluctant to direct the Martials there.

Thundercracker pulled up a list of that flock's holdings and rattled off a location.

"Yeah, that one," Tabre mumbled.

"Did you ever see or have contact with any of them after that?"

Tabre shook his helm, wings low and refusing to meet Thundercracker's gaze.

"Do you have any idea what happens to them?" Thundercracker asked, intentionally gentling his tone.

"No," Tabre said.

Thundercracker thought he might be lying, but he didn't want to push it too hard. He hoped it was enough for a warrant that would hold up in court, but for now he needed to move on.

"What were you told to look for?"

Tabre fidgeted with his fingers, wings flicking in an uneven rhythm. "Seekers. Younger was better. Anyone who looked upset. I would try to talk to them. If they were cut off from their flock, that was best. I was told ... to look for ones who wouldn't be noticed disappearing."

"That matches up with what we know. When was the last one you sent there?" Thundercracker asked.

"About a metacycle ago," Tabre said. "Her designation's Redtail."

"Good. What else can you tell me?" Thundercracker gave an opening for anything.

Tabre hesitated and looked at his lawyer, who canted his wings in encouragement. Tabre's lifted a little, then drooped again as he looked back at Thundercracker. "Once, I asked what happens to them and after the flock Action stopped beating me the flock Order told me that they find homes and not to worry about them. And that's all I know, I swear that's all I know. You have to help me get out of Vos now."

"You'll be in protective custody until we can confirm this is useful information," Thundercracker said. "If this pans out you'll be relocated."

Tabre canted his wings back, uncertain. "I'm trusting you with a lot here, Martial."

"Thank you, Martial," the lawyer said, standing and extending his hand to Thundercracker as he rose as well.

"Thank me when your client makes it out of Vos without being mauled for his part in this," Thundercracker said. "Whatever it is."

* * *

It was with great satisfaction that Thundercracker presented the search warrant at the eyrie that Tabre had indicated. Given the information presented, the warrant had been granted in moments--to search only, not to arrest, but Thundercracker suspected they would find the evidence needed for the latter inside.

It was with no fewer than sixty Martials, assigned from all over Vos, that Thundercracker strode through the front doors. Skywarp was flying overhead, ready to jump in with a word from his Order. His duty trine flanked him and the absolute _rage_ that Thundercracker had been pushing aside since the murder of his youngest sparkling began to simmer in his spark. The anger over Echo's damage and long recovery only added to it.

The outrage of the resident flock coiled in the air all around them, focused on the Martials assigned to keep the flock in one place so they couldn't dispose of any evidence. Long experience told Thundercracker that there was definitely something here to be found and it was serious. With an internal smile of satisfaction he ordered the Martials to their search assignments.

When the first call of a find came from the lowest level, Thundercracker wasn't surprised. When he realized that a call for medics and backup was embedded, he began to run that way.

"Detective--" One of the Martials posted at the entrance of the door held out a hand to stop him. "Move slowly. They're terrified."

"They...?" Thundercracker asked as he slowed and then entered, and as he looked around, he felt his spark freeze up.

No fewer than twenty sets of optics were looking back at him, all of them bright, wide. A scan through them and Thundercracker saw stasis collars, wing cuffs. The Seekers inside the dark, cramped room looked oddly patchwork. After a moment of peering, Thundercracker realized it was because they were covered in swatches of color.

"Calm," he spoke softly and shifted to all of them could see his wing markings. "We are here to get you out of here."

::Arrest the entire flock for mechnapping, illegal confinement and anything else you can think of from this,:: he added an image capture of the room to the comm to the Martial in charge of watching the flock, then sent a separate comm to Ether with what he had and that the search wasn't done.

Ether immediately pinged back that he would be flying over to the scene to oversee.

Thundercracker found the controls for the lights and brought them up slowly. Some of the Seekers flinched away from it.

"It's okay," Thundercracker said, keeping his wings neutral. "It's okay." ::How soon can we get a social expert in here?:: he asked.

::One is on the way,:: a dispatcher answered him.

::Make it multiple,:: Thundercracker said, looking at the vocal inhibitors and wing locks. The low ceiling over him felt heavy and he didn't want to be here one klik longer than was necessary.

To imagine being in here with no escape...?

::Patch me through to the social expert and lead medic coming,:: he commed dispatch and was quickly on an open line with both. ::Is it safe to remove their wing locks, vocal inhibitors and get them out of this dungeon of a room?::

::Yes,:: came the immediate response. ::Do so one at a time, and make sure each is escorted by an Enforcer. Can you tell their positions?::

::Mixed,:: Thundercracker said, teeking carefully as he walked to the closest two.

::If possible, assign Actions to the Orders and Visions, Orders to the Actions.::

::I'll mange,:: Thundercracker promised as he began a mental count of who he'd need based on the positions of those in the room.

"I'm Detective Thundercracker of the Vosian Air Martials. We are here to free you," he spoke just loud enough to be easily heard by all of them as he commed to dispatch to asked for an additional four Actions, then sent the requests to those already here than he thought could handle this and gave them a timetable for showing up. He knelt next to the one, a very young Vision that teeked more distressed than the others and carefully removed the vocalizer inhibitor first.

"What is your designation?" Thundercracker asked quietly as he worked on the wing locks.

She stared at him, wings canted sharply back. "Song," she finally whispered.

"You're safe now, Song," Thundercracker said. "Do you know if there are others who need help somewhere else?"

She shook her helm, then paused, and canted in affirmative. "Some were shipped out a few orns ago. They might still be in Vos."

"Shipped out?" Thundercracker asked.

"To fill orders," Song said. "They're selling us to grounders."

Thundercracker's mouth dropped open and his wings flared along with his field in horrified shock. Even before he got it under control he commed the officer in charge of the flock. ::They're selling Seekers to _grounders_. Find out where the last shipment is and is going. I don't care how.::

With several deep ventilations to settle himself and helped Song to stand. "Officer Whistlestop will be with you until you are in the hospital, repaired and have given a statement."

She nodded, wings trembling, and immediately latched onto the Action who stepped forward as she was named.

* * *

Hiding the disgusted shudder in his wings, Thundercracker started working his way around the other Seekers as he had Actions and Orders to pair with them. When the social experts arrived, he gratefully turned that duty over to them and started on his investigation of the rest of the room.

::Do we have both flock Orders in custody?:: he asked.

::Yes. We're missing a few of their trinemates but we'll find them.::

Thundercracker wondered how anyone could trine with someone doing _this._ He flicked his wings in a greeting to Ether when his commander arrived to help, finding a datapad on one of the many workbenches that surrounded the area. He flicked it on and started reading.

There was a designation at the top, and under it a credit amount. Past that was a list of colors and numbers, and after a moment, Thundercracker realized he was looking at an order form.

::Ether,:: he commed, gesturing the other Martial over. He waited as the district Order read and began to comprehend what he was looking at.

::There ... how ... what is _wrong_ with them?:: Ether stammered.

::Mecha can do horrible things to each other,:: Thundercracker murmured. He felt dazed. ::We are no different. This is ... this is what my creation died for.:: Numbness and anger both cracked and began to give way to grief.

Ether nodded curtly, then took the datapad from Thundercracker. ::I'm removing you from active service for the next decaorn. Paid leave, you are not being punished. We'll clean up here, go be with your trine.::

A moment later, Skywarp appeared, his wings low.

"Take Thundercracker home," Ether told him.

Skywarp dipped his wings in understanding to him, but looked to Thundercracker for permission before stepping close and warping them to the eyrie where Starscream and their surviving creations were huddled in the middle of half the flock.

Starscream was up on his pedes immediately. "What are you doing back?" he demanded. "What happened? Why did they dispatch so much backup? What did you find?"

"I'm on paid grief leave for the next decaorn," Thundercracker answered as he stepped forward to grab Starscream in a tight embrace, then let go to scoop up the little Seekerlings chirping at him. "We found what was worth the risks they took. We needed the backup to help with the score of prisoners they were getting ready to ship out as slaves all over Cybertron and the colonies."

Starscream stiffened, and Thundercracker heard his flock around him echoing the horror in his own spark.

"But they're--they're arrested, the ones who took the sparklings," Starscream said.

"Most of them," Thundercracker said. "The flock Orders included. They will be prosecuted."

"This changes nothing about none of our Visions being alone," Aleno said, stepping forward and lifting his voice for the gathered flock to hear. "There is still a trial, and those who have not been caught. Until I say otherwise, no one in this flock should be alone at any time."

There were murmurers and flicked of acceptance from all around.

"With twenty live witnesses and the potential to recover some of those already shipped out, it will be a very strong case," Thundercracker said to himself as much as those around him. "These charges will be much more difficult to squirm out of."

"Good," Starscream hissed. His wings were trembling.

"Skywarp, can you..." Thundercracker murmured. Skywarp knew without asking what Thundercracker wanted and he touched his trine and their creations and took them inside the eyrie.

Thundercracker sank down and pressed his hands over his optics. Over, it was _over._

"Does this mean we will release Firedance's chamber soon?" Skywarp asked quietly as they all huddled together.

"Yes," Thundercracker managed through the static. "Very soon."

"He'll fly forever with the others soon," Skywarp shivered and held them close.

Fyat trilled sadly and climbed up her sire-Order's cockpit and reached out to touch his face. Thundercracker carefully took her in his hands and kissed her helm.


	4. Recovering Balance

Thundercracker lay sprawled in the middle of the large extended flock in the main level of his home eyrie. Starscream was in his arms, Skywarp against his back and their two surviving creations were rough housing in an opening made by shifting frames nearby. Though they had every right to be in the courtroom for the verdict and sentencing, they'd chosen to be here, surrounded by the kin that had endured so much to see the entire flock to this orn.

They had finally reached the end of one of the most visible and shocking trials in all of Vosian history. Two flocks, both involved in the capture and sale of Seekers to grounders who were willing to pay for a personal flying pet. Thundercracker still felt sick whenever he thought about it. They hadn't been able to find all of the sold Seekers, and while some were certainly deactivated, he wondered how many more were still living as toys.

"Who knows how long it would have taken to discover this," Starscream murmured, absently running his fingers over Thundercracker's arm. The finish had been largely worn away during the mourning flight for the lost creation. Not even between them were they sure who would grieve enough to repaint first. The only thing everyone was sure of was that they'd all have their insignia emblazoned on their wings long before the rest of their frames saw paint.

"Possibly generations," Thundercracker shivered. "This wasn't a new crime for them."

"It's horrible," Skywarp whispered. Rustles of agreement came from all around.

As the judges pronounced the sentence for the flock Orders and their trines, Thundercracker felt an odd sort of numbness come over him. It was _really_ over. He almost didn't know how to return from this to a normal life again, everything had been consumed by finding vengeance for their creation for almost a vorn.

"We'll manage," Skywarp whispered. "For the living ones, we'll manage."

"Trines do survive this," Starscream said. His carrier-Vision reached in and gave his arm a supportive squeeze and Starscream offered him a smile in return before focusing back on Fyat and Echo and how roughly they were playing. "I'm glad it's over."

"Even his recovery is effectively over," Thundercracker smiled at the pair. "Though I do wonder who's the most eager to have guard duties ended."

"I would expect that would be your sister," Skywarp said.

"I think that would be _me,_ " Starscream said, causing several to snicker.

"I'm sure you're the most vocal about it," Thundercracker half agreed.

"Counts for something," Starscream said with a smirk at his Order, before his wings twitched and the expression faltered. "Sorry, I..." He shook his helm. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Thundercracker nuzzled him as Skywarp shifted to put their Vision between them.

"Forgot for a moment," Starscream murmured. They refocused on the vid screen, watching the flock Orders being hauled away in wing-locks. The Winglord himself had come in to watch this trial and the live stream showed the expressionless features for a moment before cutting away to a reporter who was recapping the case. Images flicked past, of the rescued mecha, of Thundercracker, of Firedance. "It's _really_ over," Starscream said.

Later, when the flock--much larger than usual this evening--had settled in for recharge, Thundercracker and his trine drew themselves away for some relative solitude in a corner. Thundercracker and Starscream sat with their helms resting together. Skywarp was curled next to them, his helm on Thundercracker's leg.

"Do you wish we hadn't looked into that cold case?" Starscream murmured.

"Yes and no," Thundercracker admitted to his conflicted reactions now that he was in a position to reflect. "I desperately wish we hadn't lost Firedance. I can't help but believe that his deactivation was worth it for the number of Seekers we saved and bringing down two crime flocks. The Martial and military in me is too conditioned towards acceptable loss to completely turn off."

Starscream sighed. "I can't help but wish we hadn't. Even with what was found. It shouldn't have been Firedance's price to pay."

"He is with Primus now, flying forever," Thundercracker shivered as he fought to believe in his spark that it was true. "We are the ones paying the price."

* * *

Thundercracker and his duty trine sat at their desks in his office, working on the seemingly endless supply of forms and reports the legal bureaucracy demanded. As dull as the work was, Thundercracker found some genuine satisfaction in it. It was all a marker of something happening and that something almost always meant he was doing his duty well. With the appeals process winding down on the slaver case and both his creations strong and healthy once more, existence was starting to feel normal again.

Three vorns since Firedance's death, two since they'd released him into the sky. Sometimes the new color on his frame still caught Thundercracker off-guard when he saw his reflection. Starscream had repainted within the last metacycle as well, and he found his Vision's richer color choices lovely. Of all of them, a bit to Thundercracker's surprise, Skywarp was the one who still hadn't repainted. It wasn't what he expected of his normally in-the-moment Action, yet no one had asked Skywarp about it, not even in the pulses of the trine bond. When one had grieved enough was an incredibly personal matter, even among trinemates.

On more than one level he was hoping Skywarp would be ready soon. It hurt to see his trinemate still grieving when he'd moved on.

A ripple of shocked frames jolting to attention in a wave through the large bullpen just outside the office drew Shimmerlock's attention first. The twitch of curious wings made Thundercracker look, then stand to go out. There were only a handful of Seekers that could create such a reaction and every last one of them was worthy of going out to see.

When he started hearing his designation and saw one of the clerks point in his direction, Thundercracker straightened a bit, holding his wings high. What could this be about?

He had to reset his optics when the last of the crowd finally moved enough for him to see the visitor, and his wings immediately dipped in respect. "Honored Winglord," he blurted, unable to think of anything else.

The Winglord, both handsome and cold, regarded Thundercracker with piercing optics. After a long moment, in which Thundercracker could barely even draw in a vent, her wings lowered in similar respect. "The honor is mine, Thundercracker," she said. "May I have a moment of your time?"

"Of course, Winglord," Thundercracker responded the only way he could and made a note that he'd been shocked enough to miss her trine standing with her. "My office?"

"Wherever you are comfortable," she said, and followed Thundercracker to his desk. "Are your trinemates near?" she asked. "They are welcome to join us if they are."

"Not currently, but they can be," Thundercracker said, comming his Action. A few moments later, Skywarp and Starscream appeared.

"Skywarp!" Starscream was exasperated, irritated certainly, but not angry. It was a good sign for his mood. "How many times--"

"Starscream," Thundercracker stopped the rant before it could start. "I have a guest."

It was sufficient to draw the Vision's attention to the stately figures that were decidedly out of place in an Air Martial's office.

"Winglord," Starscream's breathed in shock and dipped his wings in honest respect for the leader of his kind.

"Greetings, Winglord," Skywarp did his best to be formal.

The Winglord looked at the Action's unpainted state and dipped her wings briefly in acknowledgment of the trine's loss that Skywarp was still actively grieving. "Thank you for joining us, Skywarp, Starscream," she said. "I'm here today to thank you, all of you, for your part in bringing the treachery and barbarism that was recently discovered in our Flock to light. The Trine Elect and the council will be meeting soon to finalize the punishments and make a statement about the ramifications these events have had on our kind. You have been invited to attend, where you will be formally commended."

"We are honored, Winglord," Thundercracker accepted on behalf of his trine. He was still processing the incredible honor this really must be to have the Winglord herself and her trine come in person to deliver the invitation. "We will be there."

"I am very pleased to hear it," the Winglord said. She canted her wings to Thundercracker, then his trinemates. "Please extend the invitation and my commendations to your duty trine and your flock. I am not unaware of the sacrifices they made for this. The details and itinerary will be sent shortly." She and her trinemates canted their wings once more in farewell before turning and leaving.

"...Wow," Skywarp said.

"Indeed," Thundercracker murmured with a faint tremble of his wings. "The actual Winglord."

"As opposed to a fake Winglord," Starscream said, rolling his optics. "Well of course the Winglord came. What you uncovered was horrendous."

Thundercracker smiled faintly and stretched his wings before settling them as his duty trine entered the office now that there was room.

"It was," he agreed with a quiet rumble, then looked over to his duty trine. "I'm sure you heard, but you're both invited to stand with me at the ceremony as well."

They canted in calm understanding, but the pride was clear in their fields.

"Will you please return me to my lab before my samples are destroyed?" Starscream snapped at Skywarp, grabbing his wing and pulling.

"Hey!" Skywarp protested, but his tone was fond, despite his cringe. A small _pop_ and they were both gone.

"I don't know how you do it," Shimmerlock said.

"Patience, experience and an unnaturally calm nature," Thundercracker chuckled. "He's caustic, but he has his redeeming qualities."

"As long as he keeps his mouth shut, I guess," Shimmerlock chuckled, then held his hands up at Thundercracker's warning rumble, wings dipping in apology. "I know, I know. Let us know when the ceremony is."

"I will," Thundercracker promised, trying to refocus on his work for the day.

* * *

When he arrived home later in the orn, Thundercracker could tell by the excited fields all around him that news of their invitation had reached the flock. He accepted their congratulations and support, but mostly just wanted to hold his creations and be quietly with his trine. The unexpected visit, while honoring, had also served to drag up all the emotions and memories of that horrific vorn.

"Fyat and Echo?" he questioned.

"Inside with Starscream," Reve said, giving Thundercracker an understanding smile.

"Thank you," Thundercracker murmured, with a touch to Reve's wing to display his gratitude. He disentangled himself from the rest of his flock and headed inside.

He found Starscream after checking a few rooms, and stood in the doorway for a few moments, watching his sparklings playing together. Fyat had always been rough in play, and still was, but Thundercracker was proud of how well she held herself back against her weaker brother so that they could both have fun.

They spotted him after a moment and ran over. Thundercracker knelt down to scoop them both up into his arms and press kisses to their helms. Sometimes it was just easier to think about what they still had instead of what they had lost.

He met Starscream's optics and knew that his Vision understood, and Starscream offered him a small, rare smile.

"Where's Skywarp?" Thundercracker asked as he sat down next to Starscream. Fyat and Echo ran back to their play.

Starscream shrugged. "Haven't seen him since he dropped me off at work," he said. "I think he might need some space."

Thundercracker nodded and they settled into comfortable silence. About a joor later, the door opened and Skywarp came in. He greeted their creations and came to settle down with his trine, head in Thundercracker's lap. They welcomed him with light touches and open fields, supportive in whatever their trinemate needed.

"I was looking at color swatches," Skywarp finally said.

"Really?" Thundercracker's wings lifted. "Anything interesting?"

"I was thinking orange," Skywarp said.

Thundercracker merely tilted his head, but Starscream gave an indignant splutter.

"You are _not_ painting yourself orange!"

Thundercracker could tell from his Action's teek that this was the desired response, and Skywarp even gave a small grin. "Oh?" he asked, teasingly. "Why not?"

"Because it's garrish," Starscream said. "And it will clash with me!"

"You could be orange too," Skywarp suggested.

"I will _not!_ "

"But you would definitely stand out," Skywarp said. "You _love_ standing out!"

"That is _not_ a good reason to stand out," Starscream said, poking Skywarp in the cockpit. "And I will not be seen with you if you are a bright orange optic sore."

"Love you too," Skywarp teased. "Actually, I was looking at orange, but only as an accent. Purple still as my primary color. Maybe darker than it was."

"Orange as an accent?" Starscream mused, trying to picture it on his Action.

"For Fire," Skywarp said, with a small smile.

Starscream's wings lifted, then evened out and his expression softened.

"I think you'll look stunning," Thundercracker said, with an equally soft look for his Action.

Fyat and Echo picked up on the shifted mood of their creators and came over, Echo crawling up onto Skywarp's chest and chattering to him about his day, while Fyat climbed up to sit on Starscream's shoulder.

Skywarp looked up at Thundercracker after listening to Echo for a few kliks. "You really think it'll look good?"

"I think you would look good in anything," Thundercracker said, tweaking Starscream's wing as he said it. "Even orange. But yes, I think purple with orange accents would be gorgeous."

"Think I'll go for it, then," Skywarp said.

"I can't wait to see it," Thundercracker said, and leaned over to kiss him. Skywarp accepted it with a hum, and then pushed back. Thundercracker's field gave a pleased, surprised flutter, and he pulled back far enough to look into Skywarp's optics, their x-vents hot against each other. For a moment, Thundercracker's spark twisted with anger at those who had made this such an unfamiliar feeling between them.

Then Skywarp pushed back up and that was all Thundercracker could think about.

For once, it was Skywarp with the clear processors. His hand pressed against Thundercracker's face and he stilled, their mouths still brushing. "Why don't we," he murmured, "Ask Reve to watch the sparklings."

Thundercracker felt Starscream's plating hot against his back and he smiled. "I think," he said, "That is a very good idea."

**Author's Note:**

> Fandom: Transformers G1 AU  
> Author: gatekat, vaevade on LJ  
> Pairings:Skywarp/Starscream/ Thundercracker  
> Characters: Skywarp, Starscream, Thundercracker  
> Rating: PG-13  
> Codes: AU, Seeker Culture  
> Summary: When Thundercracker and Starscream begin to investigate a cold case, they stumble into the sights of someone with a lot to lose and no morals left.
> 
> Disclaimer: The authors are only playing with their own twisted muses. Transformers belong to Hasbro. Fandom-side, check the inspirations page <http://www.gatekat-fics.livejournal.com/290.html>. We draw from a ton of amazing stories and authors you should read. 
> 
> nanoklik = 1/8 second;   
> klik = 496 nanokliks/62 seconds;   
> breem = 8 kliks/8.27 minutes;   
> groon = 9 breem/1.24 hours;   
> joor = 6 groon/7.44 hours;   
> orn = 42 joor/13.02 days;   
> decaorn = 32 orns/1.14 years;   
> metacycle = 8 decaorn/9.22 years;   
> vorn = 9 metacycles/72 decaorn/83 years; 
> 
> ::text:: comm chatter  
> ~text~ hardline/bond chatter
> 
> Martials (CSI): Merrit, Raegin (Shift boss)  
> Ether: TC's district Order  
> Sheana: Line Dancer's duty trine Order  
> TC's duty trine: Long Vector (Order), Shimmerlock (Action)  
> TC's Captain: Riftdancer
> 
> TC's creator trine: Aleno (Order, Air Martial), Target (Action, military, Rico's mate, clutchmate of Airstrike), Reve (Vision, architect. Designs buildings for aesthetics)  
> Target's mate's trine: Rico (Order, Air Martial, Target's mate), Swingshift (Action, Air Martial), Skydart (Vision, performer)  
> Other: Jericho (Order, Air Martial, mated to Skydart and Swingshift), Valhalla (Action, femme) and Kyrie (Vision, femme, military sniper)  
> Other: Skynote (Order), Airstrike (Action, clutchmate of Target), and Leland (Vision), Payload (Action)  
> TC's siblings: Line Dancer (Vision, femme, Air Martial), Recon (Action, Air Martial),   
> TC's first trine: Farcry (Vision), Sound Barrier (Action), Brace (1st creation)  
> Star's creation flock Order: Sharpwind  
> Star's creation trine: Ripwing (Order), Longjump (Action), Chiindii (Vision)  
> Skywarp's flock Order: Tailwind  
> Skywarp's creation trine: Sirrus (Order), Sunchaser (Action), Res (Vision)  
> Target's flock Order: Shredwing (military)
> 
> TC, Warp and Star's clutch: Fyat, Echo and Firedance
> 
> Shafaf: Transparent in Arabic. B-1 type stealth fighter-bomber. Target's older sister, Action.
> 
> TC's creations:  
> Fyat: She's the one you do not cross. The smallest but also the most like Star. Crimson optics.  
> Firedance: A beauty, lithe and graceful, and fast as a firestorm. Mech, though barely. Pale orange-white optics  
> Echo. Thankfully far calmer than (his or her?) siblings, because he's pulling in some variant of TC or Warp's power. Crimson optics


End file.
